Liverpool FC great Jamie Carragher has once again called upon his old club to enter January’s transfer window with the aim of adding fresh centre-back reinforcements in the aftermath of fresh injury concerns for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Joel Matip’s latest setback on the injury front has sidelined the Cameroonian for the next three weeks, forcing Klopp to field Nathaniel Phillips in the recent goalless draw at St. James’ Park against Newcastle United as the 23-year-old made his second top-flight outing.
Carragher has been very vocal of late for Liverpool FC’s growing requirement of additional options at the heart of the defence and the ex-Red echoed similar sentiments while penning a column for the Telegraph.
“If Matip continues to be in and out of the side, and then Fabinho gets injured, how can Liverpool expect to perform at the highest level with only the inexperienced Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips to step in? That is too big a risk.
“The way Liverpool have dealt with the loss of key players so far shows they will still take some stopping, but it will not be as one-sided as last year and failing to sign another defender will only lift the hopes of everyone else.
“The injury to Virgil Van Dijk alone will cost Liverpool between nine and 12 points over the course of this season,” he said.
“And although Fabinho has proved a fantastic deputy at the back, Joel Matip’s ongoing problems means, to me at least, that it is inconceivable that Liverpool will not sign another centre-half at the earliest opportunity.
Ben White and Ozan Kabak are two names across Europe’s top leagues that remain linked with a January switch to the Merseyside outfit even as recent reports indicated that the Champions of England had opened talks with French club Lille over signing the highly-rated Sven Botman.
