Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has weighed in on the club’s January transfer business.
The Sky Sports pundit claims that it has been a frustrating month for the Reds fans with most of their rivals strengthening their squads significantly. On the other hand, Liverpool failed to address their midfield concerns.
It has been a disappointing season for Liverpool so far and they are 9th in the league table. A top-four finish seems unlikely as things stand and the midfield has been a major concern for Jurgen Klopp. Key players like Jordan Henderson and Fabinho have regressed massively and players like Arthur Melo, Naby Keita, and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain have had persistent injury problems.
Signing a central midfielder should have been Liverpool’s top priority in January, but they ended the window with the signing of an attacker in Cody Gakpo.
Carragher believes that although it might seem like Liverpool have given up on the top four, the Reds have a methodical approach to transfers and they were not going to switch to a scattergun approach just to appease the fans.
He said: “In terms of transfers, I can understand the frustrations of Liverpool fans when they see other clubs spending left, right, and center, and because Liverpool are not bringing someone in, it almost looks like they have given up on that fight for the top four.
“But what I would never want my club to be, which is what they were when I was a player, is a little bit scattergun, panicking at different times, whereas Liverpool over the last four or five years have been a model that other clubs around Europe have wanted to follow.
“And what they do not do is panic in the transfer market, and I think Jurgen Klopp has shown that before when he has had really successful buys that he has brought in, like Virgil van Dijk, who he waited for before bringing in.”
Furthermore, he added that Liverpool will have a big summer and they are likely to sign quality players at the end of the season.
“I am convinced Liverpool will have a big summer, I am sure a lot of fans want them to have a big January, but I would not want Liverpool to go back to what they used to do when I was playing where you would be buying players and hoping that it would work”.
It remains to be seen whether Jurgen Klopp can plug the gaps in his squad, especially in the middle of the park. The Reds have been heavily linked with a move for Jude Bellingham in recent months and the England international is likely to cost a premium.
Liverpool fans will certainly be excited about Carragher’s summer transfer claim and it remains to be seen whether the owners are prepared to back the manager with substantial funds.
Liverpool must have a big summer – if we don’t, then we’ve done nothing about midfield now or then. It always raises serious questions, it will raise quite a few more if we don’t see at least 2x top class midfielders arrive in the summer.
We seem to have put a lot of eggs in the Bellingham basket, that is one they need to ensure happens. Embarrassing if he turns is down cos we don’t have CL football, and we don’t have CL football cos we wouldn’t spend money to get it as we wanted to save for him 😅
The owners have done brilliantly with the stadium. Nike etc. But you must spend to keep up with the Jones,s otherwise what’s the point in having a state of the art stadium if you are an average mid table team