"We have been given permission to speak to Danny and although he won't be a free transfer, we are confident that he will come here. I would be very, very surprised if he doesn't sign for us," said Crewe boss Dario Gradi.
"I've spoken to Rick [Parry] and he has told me that we will come to a deal if Danny wants to come here. I've known Rick a long time and have the utmost respect for him, so when he says we will come to an agreement, we will come to an agreement.
"Danny is a genuine guy and is as close to signing as you can get to agreeing to a deal. I don't envisage a problem and if there was, then they would have sort it out with Liverpool because he is still their player."