Gary Neville explains why Liverpool face a transfer ‘conundrum’

Posted by

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville believes Liverpool will struggle to recruit quality attacking reinforcements because any targets know their prospects of gametime would be limited.

The supreme trio of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, of course, have the starting spots locked down under normal circumstances.

The Reds chose not to make a big-money move for another forward this summer, placing trust in the likes of Divock Origi, Xherdan Shaqiri and Rhian Brewster.

Neville, though, reckons that if they do look to add a fourth big name to their attacking ranks, they will run into trouble.

He feels top players would always be likely to look elsewhere rather than seek, in vain, to displace one of the incumbents.

“Who’s going to come in as a striker at Liverpool?” he pondered on Sky’s ‘Big Premier League Season Debate’.

“If you’re Liverpool wanting to spend £75million on striker now or a forward, those front three that are there now aren’t going to be happy sitting on the bench.

“So you’re going to have to **** them off right away and the guy coming in for £75million isn’t going to sit on the bench.

“You have got a bit of a problem.

“We [United] had it in the late 2000s, late 90s, with Beckham, Scholes, Keane and Giggs.

“They were too good, so anyone that came in was never going to get in. They were unbelievable.

“You couldn’t break that four. So when Veron signed, he was always going to fail because the reality of it is: those four were set in stone.

“So that’s the thing: if Liverpool did invest now, £75m, they’ve got a bit of a conundrum.

“They’ve got a really great front three that they can’t probably refresh at this time as no-one will come in.

“They’ll just look at it, if you’re a striker from Barcelona or another club in Europe looking at Liverpool, you’ll think I’m not going there – I’m not going to get in.”

Crucially, the situation at chief title rivals Manchester City is different. There doesn’t appear to be a set attacking pecking order, with Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus all competing for places.

City, then, are blessed with greater depth, whereas we would have to recruit one of the world’s best in their position to truly challenge the front three.

Perhaps, rather than a £75million, Nicolas Pepe-style investment, the Reds ought to be looking closer to the £30m-£40m range to bolster their forward options.

With a relentless fixture schedule, the front three do need rests occasionally and, like all players, they need competition to push them forward.

More Stories Gary Neville Mohamed Salah Roberto Firmino Sadio Mane transfers