Liverpool Transfer News: Sebastian Coates Loan a Good Move for All Parties

Liverpool's forgotten man, defender Sebastian Coates, is likely to finalise a six-month loan deal away from Anfield in the coming days.

The 23-year-old is still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury which has kept him out of Brendan Rodgers' first-team plans since August.

With the manager keen to free up funds for a new signing, a loan for Coates makes sense for all parties and allows the player to continue with his recuperation.

According to Radio El Espectador 810 (h/t Sky Sports), Coates' old club Nacional are willing to take him back to Uruguay and Coates is open to the move:

It would be beautiful to join Nacional and complete my recovery in Uruguay with my family and friends.

The negotiations can be hard sometimes, and we have to wait a bit.

Coates still retains hopes of being fit for this summer's World Cup Finals and the move back to Uruguay will speed up his recovery.

The Guardian notes that Coates is already in Montevideo awaiting the finalisation of the deal, and Carl Markham of The Independent tells how positive Coates remains, despite the race against time:

I'm making progress, slowly but surely. It's been going very well.

It's a long recovery process for this injury and I think it's more about how you are psychologically in your head and trying to keep positive in order to be able to get back to full fitness as quickly as possible.

You always think positively—I think that's the most important thing.

In my case, I keep myself going by focusing on getting back as quickly as I can, and with the national team, the World Cup is another goal to help me with my recovery.

Despite such a positive outlook, with only 24 appearances to his name since his debut for Liverpool in 2011 (per Liverpool Echo), it's highly unlikely that the player will force himself into Rodgers' plans in the future.

Indeed, were it not for the injury Coates sustained back in August, he may well have been offloaded permanently to Fulham before the closure of the summer transfer window (according to Ed Malyon of the Daily Mirror).

In any event, this is a win-win situation for Brendan Rodgers. Aside from any monies saved during the loan deal, there is, of course, the potential to make it permanent.

Or, should Coates get anywhere near the form that persuaded Kenny Dalglish to part with £7 million for his signature (per Metro), then Rodgers in effect gets a "new signing."

Defensively, Liverpool have thrived in his absence. Rodgers is well covered here and it would be a surprise if he were to add to his squad in this area.

Despite injuries to key players such as Daniel Agger and Mamadou Sakho, Martin Skrtel et al have ensured that the Reds enter a crucial period of the season still in contention for a Champions League place.

A respectable 28 goals conceded in 22 games, and only five games lost (per PremierLeague.com), compares favourably with the teams around them.

Their expansive attacking style sees them second only to Manchester City on goals scored in the Premier League and with two of the next three fixtures against Merseyside rivals Everton and league leaders Arsenal, Rodgers has the perfect chance to make a real statement of intent.

Whether Sebastian Coates returns to the fold come season's end is a debate that will be ongoing for the foreseeable future.