Will Reds follow Barnes’ theory that we don’t need a “£100m” first-team player?

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John Barnes has followed the ‘prevailing theory’ that we won’t be seeing any massive signings arriving at Anfield this summer by suggesting the Reds will just be looking to “supplement the squad.”

Speaking exclusively to Liverpool Offside in New York ahead of the Reds’ stateside pre-season tour, the Kop legend spoke about the upcoming season and what the summer could hold for new faces.

“I’m looking for something exciting but not necessarily anything new,” Barnes admitted.

“Last season we needed players like Virgil Van Dijk [sic] and Alisson to come into the team to be the main pieces in the squad and maximize the potential we had.”

“This year, I don’t think there are any players who will be coming in to take the place of Salah, Mané, Firmino, or Van Dijk, so instead what we need to is supplement the squad.”

“I don’t think we’re going to go out and get a player for £100m to go straight into the team, but we don’t need that.”

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Barnes is not necessarily wrong in many respects; Alisson has solved the perennial goalkeeping issue at Anfield, while Virgil van Dijk has similarly revolutionised the Reds at the back.

That said, many have urged the club to capitalise on our Champions League win by adding quality – potentially expensive – depth to the bench while our reputation is stratospheric.

The truh probably lies somewhere in the middle of the discussion. While the Reds have lost the fleeting appearances of Daniel Sturridge, Rhian Brewster is expected to come in as his replacement.

Equally, the departure of Alberto Moreno probably hasn’t changed Jürgen Klopp’s desire to buy a new left-back to deputise for Andy Robertson, since the Spaniard only made five total appeances in 18/19.

Therefore, Barnes’ theory that the Reds don’t actually need a “£100m” kind of player to come into the side is not drastically off the mark (though we could still sign someone given our financial resources).

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Conflicting reports from a multitude of voices definitely complicate attempts to concretise the opinions and thoughts that are floating around (the Nicolas Pépé rumour comes to mind).

While people like David Maddock have claimed the Reds won’t make any big signings this summer, probably speaking more generally, Klopp himself has stated “everybody’s splashing the cash, so we have to do the same.”

We can never be 100% sure of what is true and what exactly is happening behind the scenes – that is the nature of the transfer window where speculation and rumour is rife.

All we can do is trust top brass and Jürgen to make the decisions they feel most benefit the club and our existing players.

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