Liverpoolai??i??s American owner John W Henry is preparing to hand manager Brendan Rodgers a whopping A?60m transfer war chest if the club qualifies for Champions League next season.
Liverpool currently sit in second place in the table and are experiencing a dream season where they have been tipped for more than a top four finish, with many pundits believing the Reds have it in them to even get the Premier League title. Liverpool have 10 games left and will almost certainly qualify for the elite competition if they continue their fine form.
However, Liverpool have a long way to go in terms of being called genuine title contenders because they have a lot of shortcomings in the squad and the 60m transfer kitty will help the club for next season. The Liverpool squad is very thin and lacks quality in depth. Brendan Rodgers had to field two youngsters in the team against Chelsea and that truly illustrated the lack of strength in the squad.
Rodgers would ideally target players in the defence department as this is Liverpool’s vulnerable area. The team suffers from individual mistakes at the back and has relied on its attackers to bail them out. Rodgers brough in Mamadou Sakho from PSG in the summer, but the player has been injured since festive week’s Chelsea clash.
Even before that, the Northern Irishman shuffled between Skrtel, Agger, Toure and Sakho for his central defender pair and could not find an idea fit, though Skrtel and Sakho looked the best together. Jose Enrique has been out for most part of the campaign and Liverpool have gained Jon Flanagan in the process as Valencia loanee flopped initially. Glen Johnson is not on top of his game and has not looked like his old self this season. Hence, Brendan Rodgers would probably be making moves for central defenders and full backs as Liverpool are being linked to players such as Jan Vertonghen, Bacary Sagna Steven Caulker and Martin Hinteregger.
The next area to be targeted would be that of the defensive midfielder position. Lucas has also spent a considerable amount of time out on the sidelines and Liverpool need to make an addition to that department to give the squad depth. The time Lucas has been in the team, he hasn’t looked as imposing as he did.
The Reds have used Steven Gerrard in the defensive role and the addition of a defensive midfielder would help him move a little up in a deep lying playmaker role as the club captain does both the jobs at the moment. Liverpool had been linked to the likes of Nigel de Jong and Fernando Reges in the winter transfer window and it is almost certain that the club would target that position.
The left wing area is what has hurt Liverpool a lot this season. The club sent out Oussama Assaidi, who has failed to impress Brendan Rodgers since his move last season, on loan to Stoke City and loaned in Chelsea’s Victor Moses. While Assaidi is impressing under Mark Hughes, Moses has failed to do so after a good debut.
Liverpool knew that the left wing department was to be targeted and hence they got close to signing two players in the winter- Mohamed Salah, the ex Basel player whose move was efficiently and effectively hijacked by Jose Mourinho and Yevhen Konoplyanka, the Dnipro player who was almost certainly headed to Anfield but the deal fell short as the media reported that the owners were impossible to negotiate with. Liverpool would be going for Konoplyanka again in the summer and are also reported to target Firmino and Markovic.
The last area which Liverpool need addressing in is the striker position. The club has a great strike partnership in the form of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez, the duo notching up a splendid 46 goals together, but don’t have a good backup to the two. Iago Aspas has flopped since his arrival from Celta and Borini’s future remains uncertain, even though he has impressed on loan at Sunderland.
Liverpool are surely attending to this need as the club are being linked to various strikers includingAi??Lyonai??i??s Alexandre Lacazette (Ligue 1’s third top scorer). If Liverpool are to be playing four competitions next season, Suarez and Sturridge would need rest and a good backup to the two is an important concern for Brendan Rodgers.
Liverpool look set for Champions League next season and manager Brendan Rodgers would need the backing of the club to invest well in the transfer market. The club would have the elite competition to attract the right sort of players to the club and it would depend on the manager, who has not been the best with transfers, what sort of players he does get to the team.
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