Reports are starting to make the rounds in England that a deal between Liverpool and Chelsea for winger/center forward Daniel Sturridge. Via Rory Smith:

As I suspect most newspapers will be reporting tomorrow, #LFC should announce Sturridge+Ince in the first couple of days of Jan. Deals done.

— Rory Smith (@RorySmithTimes) December 18, 2012

Suspect that means #CFC will have to go for a striker - at least one - to replace Sturridge. Desperately need a presence in midfield, too.

— Rory Smith (@RorySmithTimes) December 18, 2012

Think Sturridge/Ince will be £18m or so the pair. Decent signings, but is this what all the fuss about the new scouting team was about?

— Rory Smith (@RorySmithTimes) December 18, 2012

Ince has a buyout of £6 million, so if Smith is correct on the total, that would mean the price on Sturridge came to a cool £12 million. That, combined with the removal of his £65,000 per week wage from the Chelsea books would free up an awful lot of money in which to buy an adequate replacement. Frankly put, that type of money should be more than enough to sign a better player than Danny.

It's still entirely possible that this report is bogus, but Smith reporting it as a done deal would indicate that there is definitely something there. We'll be watching for confirmation, but it would seem pretty safe to assume that it's eventually coming at this point.