Analysing the Players Liverpool Could Spend £200 Million on During the Summer
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp looks set to hit the jackpot this summer.
According to the Liverpool Echo's Ian Doyle, the German's second offseason in charge on Merseyside could see him armed with as much as £200 million to spend.
"Liverpool have improved as a selling club and are likely to drive hard bargains for most departures," Doyle wrote, before detailing how an initial £100 million transfer kitty could be doubled by cashing in on Lazar Markovic, Alberto Moreno, Mamadou Sakho and Daniel Sturridge.
The expensive arrivals of Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum last year were offset by selling 13 players, but Liverpool still made a net loss in a summer transfer window for the first time since 2010, per Transfer League.
In 2017, however, the time feels right to splash the cash. Forget the bottom line, it's time to spend, spend, spend!
Klopp has shown what he can do with limited resources. The Reds are on course for a top-four finish in the Premier League and, with the likelihood of European football next season, the squad needs strengthening.
It's not just about numbers, though. If Liverpool truly want to contend for the title and go deep in Europe, they need more quality.
So, who might be on their summer shopping list? Picking out some key positions that could do with freshening up, Bleacher Report suggests exactly who the Reds could spend £200 million on.
Left-Back
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Why Liverpool Need to Buy
As Karl Matchett analysed in detail for This Is Anfield, left-back has been an area of concern for the Reds for far too long now. When you long for another Stig Inge Bjornebye, you know there's an issue.
Converted midfielder John Arne Riise did a decent enough job in Rafa Benitez's reign, but too many potential solutions have only ended up becoming part of the problem.
Klopp has adapted versatile midfielder James Milner to fill the void this season, and the former England international has done a steady enough job.
But Liverpool need another left-back, because Milner isn't the long-term answer. As for Moreno, his future looks bleak; the Spaniard hasn't started a Premier League game since the opening weekend of the season.
The Solution: Ryan Sessegnon (£15 Million)
If you're looking for a long-term answer, Sessegnon is the ideal candidate.
The 16-year-old has contributed four goals and two assists for Fulham in the Championship this season, per TransferMarkt. Again, he's 16. Sessegnon should be studying for exams, not setting up scoring opportunities.
According to Melissa Reddy of Goal, the talented teenager is the left-back target for Liverpool. If needs be, he can learn the ropes at Liverpool behind Milner before taking over the role.
Fulham are seemingly not keen to do business, however. Manager Slavisa Jokanovic said, per Alex Smith of The Mirror: "Sessegnon will not be in the transfer market in the summer." Still, money usually talks.
Centre-Back
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Why Liverpool Need to Buy
Klopp has done so many good things since taking charge, but he's yet to find a way to shore up a leaky defence that has been Liverpool's Achilles' heel for years.
The Reds have conceded 40 Premier League goals this season, the most of any team in the top seven of the table.
Some supporters will suggest a new goalkeeper would help. Others might point to Sakho's performances on loan at Crystal Palace and argue the Frenchman's return could save the Reds a fortune this summer.
Yet Klopp said as recently as March that he has no plans to sign a new keeper, according to Chris Bascombe of The Telegraph. Sakho, meanwhile, is unlikely to play his way off the naughty step and save his Liverpool career.
The Solution: Virgil van Dijk (£50 million)
Like a cowboy guilty of rustling cattle, Van Dijk is a wanted man.
Tom Collomosse of the Evening Standard reported Chelsea were ready to rival Liverpool for the centre-back, with Southampton demanding "probably in the region of the £50 million Manchester City paid Everton for John Stones last summer."
Per Phil Kirkbride of The Mirror, Everton and Manchester City are also interested in the Dutchman. There seems to be a lengthy queue forming around St Mary's Stadium.
The price may seem high, but the Reds saved when signing Joel Matip on a free transfer last summer. If Klopp believes Van Dijk is the commanding centre-back he requires, money shouldn't be the stumbling block.
Central Midfielder
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Why Liverpool Need to Buy
When all the first-team squad are fit and available, Liverpool possess a starting XI clearly capable of competing with their major domestic rivals.
However, injuries this season have exposed a lack of depth. Captain Jordan Henderson has been out since the end of February with a foot injury, while Adam Lallana is sidelined with a hamstring problem.
Klopp adapted to the loss of two key midfielders by changing formation against Stoke City last Saturday, switching to a 3-5-2 system, but he needs more quality in such a key area of the field.
Lucas Leiva is out of contract at the end of this season, and although Emre Can's deal runs for a further 12 months, the English club should not want to risk losing him for free in the summer of 2018.
The Solution: Naby Keita (£25 million)
Keita has been a revelation for RB Leipzig in Germany, scoring seven goals and contributing eight assists for a team that looks likely to qualify for next season's Champions League.
The Guinea midfielder wouldn't, therefore, have to leave his current employers to play in Europe's premier club competition, negating the rather large carrot Liverpool should be able to dangle this summer.
Other clubs are interested, too. According to Ed Aarons and Fabrizio Romano of The Guardian, Keita has been "scouted extensively by Arsenal this season, although the same can be said of most big clubs in Europe, including Leipzig’s Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich."
Liverpool, though, may have an added advantage over the rest, as Keita shares the same agent as Sadio Mane, per Goal's Reddy.
Attacking Midfielder
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Why Liverpool Need to Buy
Whether Liverpool do end up in the top four or not, it looks a certainty they'll be playing in Europe next season.
Those midweek fixtures—whether it be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for Champions League, or Thursday's for its unpopular relative, the Europa League—are going to stretch playing resources.
As already mentioned, midfield is an area of the team that could do with strengthening.
Klopp has done wonders for Lallana's career—could he do the same for another energetic Englishman who is blessed with technical ability and also once played for Southampton?
The Solution: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£25 million)
According to James Ducker of The Telegraph, Liverpool are eyeing up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Eyeing him up with long-range binoculars. The story suggests Arsenal will ask for £35 million, a figure that seems ambitious.
Like a new car stuck on the garage forecourt, Oxlade-Chamberlain is losing value because his warranty (well, contract) is running out. By the summer, he will only have 12 months remaining on his deal.
As Ducker points out, "Oxlade-Chamberlain has been introduced from the substitutes’ bench more times (13) than he has made starts (12) in the Premier League this season."
Would he really get more minutes at Liverpool? He'd certainly have a chance of usurping Wijnaldum from the starting XI while also offering versatility to play in a wide forward role.
Winger
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Why Liverpool Need To Buy
Steve McManaman—who knows a thing or two about playing out wide for Liverpool—told BT Sport (h/t James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo): "I still think they need one more winger, possibly two, to give them options when it comes to trying to break the lesser teams down when games get condensed."
Considering how badly Liverpool struggled in the month of January when Sadio Mane was away at the Africa Cup of Nations, plus their problems against lowly opposition, McManaman makes a fair point.
Last Saturday's 2-1 triumph at Stoke City was the first time Klopp's side had triumphed without the Senegal international in five Premier League games.
If Sturridge is sat in the departures lounge as believed, and Divock Origi looks better suited down the middle, there needs to be another option or two for the wide positions up top.
The Solution: Julian Brandt (£25 million)
At one stage, it appeared Liverpool had missed out on Brandt. While he was to depart Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season, Bayern Munich appeared to be his next destination.
However, the 20-year-old's agent, who also happens to be his father, has dismissed the speculation.
"It is fake news that Julian has agreed terms with Bayern," Jurgen Brandt told Kicker (h/t Jack Bezants of the MailOnline).
Per Andy Kelly of the Liverpool Echo, Brandt has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave for €12.5 million in 2018. The Reds, however, cannot afford to wait that long for attacking reinforcements.
Striker
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Why Liverpool Need to Buy
The Reds have shared the goals around in all competitions this season, with four players—Mane (13), Roberto Firmino (11), Coutinho (10) and Origi (10)—all reaching double figures already.
Of that quartet, Firmino—a Klopp favourite for his ability to trigger the pressing game from the front—and Origi are the two central strikers in the preferred 4-3-3 formation.
Yet if Liverpool really want to compete with the best, both at home and abroad, they could do with another star turn up top. Goalscoring forwards are not easy to get hold of, but that doesn't mean you should stop looking entirely.
Look at the impact Luis Suarez had during his time at Anfield. The wait for a league title was nearly ended when the Uruguayan was leading the line. The same goes for Fernando Torres, too.
The Solution: Alexandre Lacazette (£60 million)
Lacazette has a fabulous scoring record for Lyon this season, managing 24 goals in 27 Ligue 1 appearances.
It is the third straight campaign in which he's scored 20 or more in the competition. At 25, the time might be right for the France international to try his luck in a bigger pond.
Arsenal have the Frenchman top of their "striker hitlist", according to John Cross of The Mirror. The Gunners, though, are in danger of finishing outside the top four, meaning Liverpool could have an edge over them in being able to offer Champions League football.
Per Jason Burt of The Telegraph, Arsene Wenger was quoted €70 million (£59.9 million) for Lacazette last August. Lyon could find it tough to hold on to their crown jewel beyond the same month this year.
