Jamie Carragher has said Liverpool needs to strengthen in six positions this summer, with three players required to come straight into the starting line-up.
The Reds have enjoyed a superb campaign, certainly in the Premier League, but the defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United in the cup competitions have highlighted a number of fragilities in the Liverpool team that must be addressed in the transfer market this summer.
A lack of options off the bench and Arne Slot ’s reluctance to rotate has highlighted the dearth of players the Liverpool boss relies on, while several key performers have looked jaded in recent weeks. Reinforcements are needed in the market and that’s before considering the possibility of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah departing when their contracts expire at the end of the season.
With Slot and new sporting director Richard Hughes yet to make any significant moves in the transfer market, Carragher said he is intrigued by what this summer could offer.
Speaking on the latest, The Overlap Fan Debate, Carragher claimed it’s clear Slot only trusts around 15 of his Liverpool players. “You can look at it two ways. You can say that it’s come back to bite them on the backside, with the Champions League and this cup final,” he said.
“But does that put Liverpool in the position that we are as well? Are the other squad players as good? I don’t think he has any time for four or five players in that squad, and the fact that he didn’t change players at home to Southampton between the PSG games – against one of the worst teams ever in the Premier League – I can accept that this season as this isn’t really his squad, but next season I’m sure he’ll bring players in.
“He’ll have to trust his squad more because he’ll need to get further in the Champions League, and he can’t accept a performance like that in a cup final.
(Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
“I’m excited to see where Arne Slot will take Liverpool because it looks like they’re going to win the league, but there are still so many areas to improve,” he continued. “He needs a center-back as back-up to the two that we have, he’ll need a right-back with Trent Alexander-Arnold likely to leave.
“I think he needs a center midfielder to replace [Wataru] Endo, someone younger and that he trusts, a center forward to play and a left winger. There are at least five or six players he needs to get in – three to go straight in the team and three to be strong back-ups.”
