Jamie Carragher has called for as many as six new signings to be made by Liverpool during the summer transfer window.
With a new contract secured for Mo Salah and one seemingly on the brink of being announced for Virgil van Dijk, Richard Hughes’ attention should soon be able to switch primarily towards external recruitment ahead of next season.
Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke has claimed that centre-back, defensive midfield and both full-back positions are the main priorities for FSG in the coming months, and the Reds’ captain has already hinted at the possibility of ‘a big summer’ behind the scenes at Anfield.
Carragher names three positions where Liverpool ‘must’ strengthen
Speaking on It’s Called Soccer!, Carragher named three areas of the first team that Liverpool ‘must’ strengthen before the start of 2025/26, and three more where they could do with added squad depth.
The pundit said: “When you see the squad, they’re going to be Premier League champions, but there are still areas in that squad which need improving.
“I think left-back is one. Andy Robertson has been one of the great left-backs for Liverpool but needs help there and maybe could play the role as backup, which’ll still be 20-25 games a season.
“I think a centre-forward is a must as well. I imagine the front part of the team is the area that’s gonna really need a bit more surgery than others because of the age profile of certain players there and the contract situation. I wouldn’t be surprised if two or three of the front six move on and Liverpool replace them.
“I still think Liverpool lack something going forward from midfield. Szoboszlai does a good job and has a great engine, but I think they can definitely get someone in there who can maybe score more goals.
“They’re the type of players coming into the team. I still then think you need another two or three players in the squad. One of them would be a centre-back, one would be a central midfield player and one would be a left winger.
“Even though we’re talking about the team who are going to win the Premier League, I still think that they need to bring in six players.”
Evolution rather than revolution is the name of the game for Liverpool
For two of the three positions that Carragher has cited as a priority, he subsequently named Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike as ideal candidates to fill those roles, with Liverpool continuing to be linked with the Bournemouth left-back and Eintracht Frankfurt striker.
While he didn’t mention a specific name for the number 10 berth, reports from Spain have mentioned the Reds’ rumoured interest in Athletic Bilbao’s prolific midfielder Oihan Sancet, who actually has a better goals-per-minute ratio than Mo Salah this season.
Having signed just two first-team players over the past three transfer windows, and focused solely on the midfield in the summer of 2023, the coming months could see the most extensive overhaul of the squad as a whole for several years if the ex-LFC defender’s pleas are answered.
The team which is about to win the Premier League doesn’t need to be ripped up, but there’s certainly scope for two or three new faces to freshen the line-up and add an injection of quality as Liverpool seek to mount a more prolonged title defence than in 2020/21.
Salah and (hopefully soon) Van Dijk aren’t staying on at Anfield for a couple more years for the Reds to go backwards, and the captain wouldn’t be publicly promising ‘a big summer’ unless he’s confident that the club will seek to reinforce the squad from a position of strength.
