Liverpool ’s attempts to secure the summer signing of Danny Ings by agreeing to let him remain at Burnley for the rest of the season were branded illegal by the Lancashire club.

The Merseysiders were hoping to cement an agreement suitable for all parties before Monday’s transfer deadline, proposing a deal which allowed Ings to stay at Turf Moor ahead of a switch to Liverpool in July. Liverpool hoped to avoid the uncertain process of compensation being determined by tribunal at the end of Ings’ contract this summer.

Lee Hoos, the Burnley chief executive, said: “This type of move would violate Premier League rule V7 regarding transfers so simply cannot happen. Over the course of the window, the player himself, Sean Dyche and the chairman have made it clear he won’t be going anywhere and we consider that the end of the matter.”

Burnley’s statement suggests Ings’s fee will eventually be a compensation figure. The 22-year-old could command anywhere between £3 million to £5 million based on precedents, although Burnley will pursue much more given the player’s potential and Premier League experience.

If he moved to Real Sociedad – who are also interested – Burnley could receive as little as £300,000 because he would be joining an overseas club.

Tottenham are also interested, but the player is committed to remaining at Burnley for the rest of the season to help preserve their Premier League status, and Burnley have reiterated they would not sell him now anyway.

Liverpool will willingly wait until the summer to sign the player, as was always their intention, and now appear to have little option than to focus their efforts on reaching a deal with Ings and his representatives once his contract expires.

Meanwhile, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard could make his 700th club appearance against West Ham on Saturday – although Brendan Rodgers is considering resting his captain.

Rodgers admits a sense of regret he will be losing Gerrard at the end of the season. “Very much so. I made it clear to Steven I wanted him as long as I am ever here, but it wasn’t to be,” he said.

“There is no doubt once he sees his time finishing as a player, if the opportunity comes to want to move into coaching and find out about that or management, I have done the dirty work for a lot of players and can point him in the right direction and help and guide with that. It’s certainly a different story being a manager.

“It’s an incredible achievement to make 700 appearances when you think of his story, and the journey he’s had here. It will take some achievement by any player to do that again. His life and journey here have been remarkable and you see how committed and focused on it he still is. There are more appearances to come too.”

Although Liverpool are just five points below the top four, they are eighth in the league with Rodgers hoping they can prove they are in a false position based on form.

“We had a review with the players in December and discussed the targets we would have between now and the end of the season, it was always going to be slow progress because of the position we are in,” said Rodgers.

“We needed to win games and just chip away, chip away, and that is what we have done. The players have been brilliant in that because the start that we made we put ourselves under big pressure in terms of results and performance.

"It is clear the level the team has got back to and now we just need to make that final step in the final third of the pitch. If we do that and continue to work as we have been then we will get the results at the end of it. We made a poor start but thankfully now in the last 17-18 games the performances have been better.

“If we have the quality at the top end of the field to finish off all that great play then we will be hard to stop.”

Daniel Sturridge returns to the Liverpool squad for the first time in five months.

Liverpool transfer deadline day – live