Liverpool are being tipped to bring in two defenders in the January transfer window – one on a permanent deal, and one on loan.
This is the view of former Premier League star Kevin Phillips, who says he can imagine the Reds’ recruitment department will already be working on landing their targets to fix their injury crisis at the back.
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Liverpool look likely to be without Virgil van Dijk for the rest of the season, while they also recently lost Joe Gomez as well, while Joel Matip has been in and out of the team with repeated niggling injuries for some time.
The Merseyside giants surely can’t risk just relying on youngsters like Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips for the rest of the campaign, so it would be unsurprising if they had a busy January.
Discussing Liverpool’s centre-back crisis with Football Insider, Phillips said: “Liverpool definitely need to sign one centre-back permanently – 100%.
“You cannot play the whole season with a stand-in centre-half who is a midfield player and a young centre-half as well because they will get tested and make mistakes. One is young and one is out of position.
“It is critical that Liverpool enter the market in January and I am sure the recruitment department are identifying player and doing their homework. They need go get it right because it is a huge area of the pitch to have players missing.
“You win titles on a solid defence and last season it showed. All of a sudden it has been disrupted. It is going to be a big test.
“They need to definitely sign one permanently and then maybe nick one on loan with a view to a permanent next summer.”
LFC fans will hope their club can do whatever it takes to remain competitive in the title race as they will surely not be retaining their title without fixing such an important area of their squad.