Liverpool have been urged to emulate their Premier League rivals and spend big on a new signing this summer to mount a serious challenge for the Premier League crown.
The player-turned-pundit duo of Peter Crouch and Joe Cole have said that Jurgen Klopp needs to add to his current options at Anfield to lift up the dressing room morale.
Crouch admitted that the much-awaited return of the defensive mainstay Virgil van Dijk was bound to give Liverpool a major boost on the squad selection front with the Dutchman’s presence of paramount importance to Jurgen Klopp and his men.
‘When a new signing walks through the door, when Lukaku. Sancho and Varane walk through the door (it lifts everyone). If they (Liverpool) signed Lukaku, you’re talking about them being front runners for the title.
‘They haven’t signed anyone, they’ve got Konate but they haven’t really gone out and got someone. This squad still has the quality to be title contenders.
‘When someone walks through the door, when Shevchenko and Ballack walk through the door, when Torres walks through the door, it lifts training.
‘But with van Dijk, when the full-backs bomb forward when the strikers bomb forward, when they look back and see him there it’s a big lift to the whole team.’
Liverpool have only added Ibrahima Konate to their ranks so far this summer with the Frenchman’s arrival set to bolster Klopp’s options at the back but Crouch’s fellow pundit Joe Cole too emphasised the need for a fresh face for the Liverpool camp.
Cole believes that Klopp is banking upon the same bunch of players who had helped Liverpool claim the 2019-20 Premier League title, as quoted by The Daily Mail.
‘I wouldn’t say I’m concerned. They didn’t do any business last year, they are banking on that unit of players that won them the title.
‘Last year, it got decimated by injuries. Instead of going for the big star, we’re going to put you in that position on the pitch and challenge Mane. They’ve gone around the peripheries, while Chelsea have gone “Lukaku, he’s playing. If it upsets Havertz and Werner, whatever.”
‘Whether they have the money to go for big players, I don’t know. They’ve gone down the road of giving out big contracts.’
