Liverpool are prepared to sanction a permanent exit for central defender Rhys Williams during the summer transfer window, according to this morning's report from Football Insider.

This comes as no real surprise considering his struggles at former loan clubs Swansea City and Blackpool, with the 22-year-old being recalled from the latter during the January transfer window.

This report states that the Reds aren't including him in their plans and don't see him as someone who could make a full first-team breakthrough anymore, despite having already appeared for the Merseyside outfit's senior team on several occasions before.

Several Championship sides are reportedly interested in striking a deal for him with the summer window approaching - and Birmingham City could potentially be one of those teams considering there could be quite a few departures in central defence at the end of the campaign.

Both Dion Sanderson and Auston Trusty are set to head back to their parent clubs and although Wolverhampton Wanderers are prepared to sell the former, the previous £3m price tag may be too steep for John Eustace's side.

Whether that price tag comes down remains to be seen - but Eustace faces the prospect of needing to bring in several central defenders with Harlee Dean, George Friend and Kevin Long all out of contract in the summer along with Nico Gordon.

Maxime Colin's deal also comes to an end in a few months, reinforcing the need for the club's recruitment team to draw up a list of targets in this area.

Birmingham have recruited some young players on permanent deals in recent times including Tahith Chong and Emmanuel Longelo - and with this in mind - Williams could be seen as a good option for the Midlands side.

Unfortunately, he probably hasn't shown enough to be a regular starter in the second tier but that may not stop his representatives from offering him to Birmingham, with probably agents knowing that they need to address their defence in the summer.

This could give the Reds the confidence to offer Williams as part of a deal to take promising youngster George Hall to Anfield, with Jurgen Klopp's side reported to have kept tabs on the midfielder.

Klopp has given a few youngsters the opportunity to shine during his time on Merseyside including Harvey Elliott and last summer's signing Fabio Carvalho, so it wouldn't be a surprise the German went ahead and pressed hard for a deal.

The Reds may be confident that they can reduce Birmingham's asking price slightly if they include Williams in this potential deal, so it wouldn't be a shock if a swap deal was floated as a genuine idea this summer.

This would probably be a better deal for the Premier League giants than it would be for Birmingham though - because Williams hasn't impressed in the second tier in recent times and Hall is surely an asset Eustace's side will want to keep for a bit longer.