West Ham 'want Nat Phillips - but Liverpool will only let £10m defender leave on a permanent deal'

West Ham are keen to sign Nathaniel Phillips, but Liverpool will only let him leave on a permanent deal, according to reports.

The Hammers are looking for cover at centre back, with defensive lynchpin Angelo Ogbonna out long-term with a cruciate ligament knee injury.

And according to the Sun, the Reds are willing to let Phillips go - but not on loan, and for a fee of around £10million.

David Moyes' side have £30m summer signing from Chelsea, Kurt Zouma, but their other defensive options are limited, with Craig Dawson now 31, Ogbonna 33, and questions remaining over the reliability of Frenchman Issa Diop.

West Ham are therefore thought to have identified Phillips as a top target, at least on a short-term basis until the end of the season, given his solid performances last season in his 20 appearances for the Reds during their defensive injury crisis.

Burnley's James Tarkowski is of interest but the Clarets would be unlikely to let him leave Turf Moor mid-season and, especially given interest from Saudi-funded Newcastle, would probably be out of reach financially too.

Phillips, 24, is fifth choice at Anfield behind Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate, with promising talents Rhys Williams and Sepp van den Berg on loan in the Championship.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is happy to sanction a sale, but does not want the former Bolton academy star returning to the club in the summer.

Phillips has made just two appearances this season, one in the Carabao Cup, and one a stellar performance against AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday in which he shackled Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a 2-1 win at the San Siro.