LIVERPOOL appear to be paving the way for a summer bid for Rovers winger Damien Duff.

Anfield chief executive Rick Parry has promised Gerard Houllier he will have funds to spend this summer - whether the club qualify for the Champions' League or not.

And their transfer policy will be one of quality rather than quantity, which has fuelled speculation that Duff is the name at the top of their wish-list.

"We will be bringing in new players," said Parry.

"There will certainly be a couple. It's about quality and not quantity this summer.

"We have a big squad now and enough players. It's a case of identifying those of real quality who can make a difference for us.

"We've got a short-list of players -- it's quite a long short-list at the moment -- and it's something we're working on all the time.

"I'm reasonably hopeful that the sort of players we'll be bringing in will please the fans and have them on the edge of their seats. We want them to be players who will make a significant improvement.

"It'll be a disappointment and a blow if we're not in the Champions League but it wouldn't be fatal and we would bounce back. Money is tight in the game at the moment but we haven't overstretched ourselves..

"Failure to qualify for the Champions League isn't going to stop us spending a bit of money so our fans can be reassured on that score."