Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is chasing Aston Villa striker Darren Bent. The Daily Mail says the England international came off the bench to play a pivotal role in Villa's 3-1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday - setting up Stilian Petrov for the second goal before scoring the decisive third himself.

However, he has grown unsettled at Villa following a summer of change and a succession of niggly injuries. He expressed his frustration at the lack of service he was getting from his team-mates and incurred the wrath of fans by missing Villa's 2-0 home defeat against Liverpool, opting to go Christmas shopping instead.

Bent has a lot of admirers at Anfield, not least director of football Damien Comolli, who helped take him to Tottenham from Charlton for £16.5m in 2007. He also has a good relationship with ex-Villa team-mate Stewart Downing and the other members of the England contingent at Liverpool.

tribalfootball.com understands Liverpool made a first enquiry about Bent's situation last Friday.