Rising troubles on the injury front for the Premier League holders should convince Jurgen Klopp and Co. to add new faces in the upcoming January transfer window, says former club captain Phil Thompson.
Speaking to the Daily Express, the Merseyside Reds legend called upon his old side to make additional reinforcements to the first-team ranks at Anfield which been severely injury-depleted following potential season-ending injury layoffs for Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Despite Fabinho being slotted into the centre-back spot to great success following Van Dijk’s ACL injury, Thompson argued for the Brazillian international to be better suited in his natural holding midfield role rather than play alongside Joel Matip at the heart of the defence.
“Yeah I said that Liverpool needed to sign someone as soon as Van Dijk had got injured.
“I knew Fabinho could step in, I’ve seen him play, and as a defender you see people’s awareness.
“I look at mistakes you make as a defender and his mistakes are few and far between, that’s what makes him a good player to play at the back.
“But I think he’s too good a holding-midfield player, one of the best in Europe, so we need another centre-back, we really do.”
RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano is one such name who has been linked with a move to Anfield should the Merseysiders step up their interest in signing the Frenchman, and Thompson believes that the highly-rated centre-back would cost Liverpool FC dearly but will be of paramount importance to the Reds injury-hit backline.
“The boy at Leipzig that we’re going to be playing against, Upamecano, I know he had a bit of a torrid time at Old Trafford but I do like him.
“I reckon he will cost a lot and he will want to be playing.”
