Liverpool will not be especially active this January due to our lack of European competition and the fact we already have good strength in depth, claims respected Red Tony Barrett, who now writes for Joe.co.uk.
Barrett has though stated that Jurgen Klopp will look to buy a winger, likely to cover Sadio Mane when the Senegalese leaves us for a month to go to the African Cup of Nations.
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“He is unlikely to be especially busy during the transfer window even if Liverpool’s title challenge is being sustained with his priority being to recruit another wide attacker having missed out on Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic during the summer,” said the former Liverpool Echo and Times journalist.
Pulisic, who’s just turned 18, was the subject of an £11m offer a few months back, but he’s getting game-time in Germany and it’s unlikely Thomas Tuchel would consider selling in January if he didn’t want to in August.
This means the scouts will need to find a pacy, affordable option who can slot in temporarily and provide the team with the pace Mane has so far.
Klopp could use Adam Lallana, Gini Wijnaldum or Daniel Sturridge here, but Barrett’s comments, as well as some from Klopp the other day, suggest a winger will arrive.
“We watch the market all the time and we need to be prepared for different situations and one of them is injuries,” the manager told the Guardian.
“The Africa Cup of Nations we already knew about so we don’t need to be influenced or surprised about that but it could be a moment when we approach the market.
“It’s not about how many strikers. Three strikers is enough, I think.
“But when Sadio is away we will be without a winger. We do not have many wingers, I would say.
“Roberto Firmino could play as a kind of a winger which would then give us just two strikers.
“That’s how it is. But it is a long way to go until January and that month is busy.
“If we can go to the semi-final of League Cup it could be the busiest month of the year. We need to be prepared for this for sure.”