Graeme Souness has said that Liverpool need to complete more business in the summer transfer window if they’re to ‘be successful’ in the 2023/24 season.
After finishing fifth in the Premier League last term and seeing several first-team players depart, the Reds have made two new signings in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Those additions will bolster Jurgen Klopp’s midfield options but could be offset by the prospective departures of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, and the club’s former captain and manager insists LFC must do more if they’re to meet their expectations for the upcoming campaign.
Speaking on BBC Radio Merseyside (via Liverpool Echo), Souness said: “I think Liverpool, to be successful, still need some more (midfielders) in there.
“I think if you analyse their team, the goalie is good enough, the back four is more than good enough. The hardest thing to get is goals and they’ve got that.
“The key is midfield, they’ve got to get a different type of midfielder in there. I think they should have done it last year and they’ll be successful or not, depending on what their midfield shape looks like and who they get in.”
The additions of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai, who between them scored 22 goals last season, should give Liverpool a much more potent impetus from behind the forward line. The Reds’ top midfield scorer in 2022/23 was Harvey Elliott with five (Transfermarkt).
However, losing Fabinho and Henderson would leave Klopp needing to fill respective gaps in terms of an experienced option for the number 6 role and a vocal leader in the middle of the park.
While Souness has claimed that the defence is ‘more than good enough’, LFC will also be hoping to improve significantly on the tally of 49 top-flight goals that they conceded last term, so they could seek to make signings in that area of the pitch as well.
Considering that all four teams who finished above Liverpool in 2022/23 have made some additions of their own this summer, it’s imperative that the Reds strengthen adequately in order to nudge back ahead of their competitors for Champions League qualification.
That doesn’t strictly mean a spending spree bonanza, but rather following the carefully calculated and astute model which has often served them so well during Klopp’s reign at Anfield.
#Ep82 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Who do Liverpool replace Henderson & Fabinho with?