It isn't looking good as far as Daniel Agger is concerned, is it? What at first appeared to be a simple case of a player wanting to be offered a new deal has slowly gotten increasingly more complicated.

The issue revolves around Agger's place in the team or, rather, his inability to force his way through. With Inter and AC Milan all interested in signing him, it is understandable – although you would like to see him show a bit more fight - that he should be thinking about whether he wants to look elsewhere given that the current central defensive partnership seems untouchable.

Which would be massively disappointing for Liverpool not only because of the financial repercussions of selling a player so late in his contract but also because, in hindsight, it is a situation that could have easily been avoided had someone had the foresight (was it really that difficult) to offer him an extension to the current deal earlier. It is, in other words, a stupid situation to allow yourself to get into.

Losing a player of Agger's ability would also hurt the overall quality of Liverpool's squad. For all the bluff that you read on internet forums - comments like 'get rid if he won't sign' - the reality is that players of his talent aren't that easy to spot. Liverpool would have to pay big to find a replacement.

Or would they?

One of the most impressive players in the reserves over the past three months has been Mikel San Jose. His reading of the game, defensive positioning and confidence on the ball all point at a player who could easily be playing at the highest level.

Martin Kelly has been just as good and the cameo appearance in the Champions League against PSV seems to have given him a great boost. Indeed, his performances for the reserves since that game have become increasingly more commanding so much that he has broken into the England U19 set up.

Both these players appear to be ready for the step up or at least could easily be members of the senior squad. With Sami Hyppia staying on for another year (or so it would seem) this could be an ideal opportunity to slowly get them used to Premiership football and give them the experience that they currently lack.

Not that this is a necessity: within his first full game Emiliano Insua had shown just how ready he was for the first team. And Insua is indeed the ideal example to look at should Agger opt to leave. Last summer Benitez rightly decided that he needed a new left back to provide competition for Fabio Aurelio and spent ₤7 million on Andrea Dossena. In reality, he should have gone with Insua.

There’s still a lot that can happen in this whole situation – as it certainly cannot be ruled out that Agger will sign - but the promotion of Kelly and San Jose would certainly appear among the more favourable outcomes.