Jurgen Klopp planning to offload Liverpool trio with 278 appearances between them in January: Reports

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is reportedly planning to sell a trio of experienced stars in January as part of a much-needed squad shakeup.

As per Calciomercato (via Express), the Reds are planning to sell central midfielders Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita, as well as defender Nat Phillips. Liverpool allowed six senior players to leave in the summer, including Sadio Mane, Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino.

However, it appears that the exodus is not yet complete at Anfield following the Merseysiders' incredibly slow start to the campaign. Klopp appears to have run out of patience with Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita, both of whom have suffered from relentless injury problems.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has made just one appearance so far this term while Keita's only appearance came in the Community Shield in August. Both stars are heading towards their 30s and are out of contract at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Phillips has also only made one appearance across the campaign and is well down the pecking order for the Liverpool centre-backs. Klopp is hopeful that selling the triumvirate will make room on the wage bill to bring in a new player in the winter window, with a central midfielder surely the target.

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Jurgen Klopp hints that forgotten Liverpool man could play against Tottenham this weekend

Due to Liverpool's injury crisis in midfield, with Jordan Henderson's injury making things worse, Klopp has revealed that he may be counting on alternative options.

The German boss stated after his team's 2-0 win over Napoli this week that Oxlade-Chamberlain is 'ready for the league,'. He told Liverpool's official website:

“I thought Curtis did extremely well, to be honest, he did really well. We had Fabio [Carvalho] who can play there as well in the league maybe. Oxlade[-Chamberlain] is now ready for the league as well, so we have a couple of players who can play there.

“But no decision made, we will see what we will do against Tottenham but it was never off the table this system, it was just that we had to change a little bit, to give ourselves a new impulse and to feel the defending stuff again in a new way. That’s sometimes how it works."

Klopp continued:

“We had good games in the other system, especially in the Champions League, where we played really well in a 4-4-2, for example. That’s the only positive thing that happened so far in the season, that we played and won in different systems. Not often enough but at least a couple of times.”