Summer: Time to build

Despite the emergence of Liverpool’s sleek new home kit grabbing people’s attention on Wednesday night, there was some other news filtering out of Anfield with perhaps greater importance which went relatively unnoticed.

Two new scouts, Andy Sayer and Kevin Hunt joined the club’s ever-growing recruitment team from Manchester City. It wasn’t the first time Liverpool had taken the short trip down the M62 to poach important members of City’s backroom; Dave Fallows (head of recruitment) and Barry Hunter (chief scout) have both arrived on Merseyside from the Etihad stadium in the past year. This undoubtedly bodes well for Liverpool, ahead of a summer where they must build on the progress made this season.

On Thursday, Brendan Rodgers said “It will be our job in the summer to add more quality to the squad.” The manager has made it abundantly clear he will be dipping into the transfer market during the off-season, but where must he strengthen?

Rodgers is rumoured to have been afforded £20 million (plus revenue from sales) to work with by Liverpool’s owners, John Henry and Tom Werner. On the face of it this figure looks a very healthy amount of money, but with player’s prices constantly inflating, the reds will have to be shrewd.

The imminent retirement of stalwart Jamie Carragher and the possible departure of Martin Skrtel, will leave Liverpool’s manager and recruitment team in no doubt that a centre-back – or two – is priority. Names such as Ashley Williams, Toby Alderweireld, Micah Richards and Dede have been tossed around press rooms but Brendan Rodgers is remaining silent for now. The Northern Irishman has been banging the experience drum for some time now; so at 28, Welshman Ashley Williams seems the most likely arrival. Fuel is added to this view by the fact that the Liverpool boss worked with Williams at Swansea for two seasons. But it’s not just externally that Liverpool could look for a new centre-back; Martin Kelly is soon to return from a long-term injury and Rodgers recently remarked that the 23-year-old has been spending a lot of time in the gym in an attempt to strengthen his upper-body. This perhaps suggests that Kelly is being nurtured into a central defender rather than the right-back role he has previously taken up. The defender has played centre-back at youth level for Liverpool and England. Ironically, the man who he could replace at the heart of Liverpool’s defence, Jamie Carragher, also took this route at the club (beginning his career as a right-back).

Another position which in my opinion requires another body at Liverpool is defensive midfield – the ball winner. This role is massively important in a Rodgers team, either in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. In the latter formation he would play alongside Steven Gerrard (the playmaker) in a deep central midfield two, constantly harrying opponents to regain the ball and laying it off to a more creative player around him. A combative, strong tackler is perfect for the job. You may be thinking Liverpool already own the perfect candidate for this role, Lucas Leiva, and I somewhat agree. Lucas was deservedly voted 2010/11 Liverpool fan’s player of the season and he continued to build on that in the following campaign. Then in November 2011 during a Carling cup tie against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the midfielder and Liverpool were handed a crushing blow. Lucas went down with anterior cruciate ligament damage which would see him miss nine months of action. His return to action this season has noticeably stabalised the red’s midfield, for which great credit must go to him, but the Brazilian is yet to return to the level he was at before his injury. Infact, few players do. For this reason, Liverpool must bring in another all-action midfield player to challenge Lucas for a spot in the team. Celtic’s Victor Wanyama looks to fit the bill perfectly and wouldn’t command an absurd fee.

At the opposite end of the field, red’s captain Steven Gerrard recently stated he thinks the club need more firepower. The skipper said “You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know we still need another striker. You look at top teams in Europe and at United, City and Chelsea, and they all have three or four top strikers. That's something we haven't had. We had one until January. Then Sturridge came in and we have two. In my opinion, to compete at the top we need to have three or four strikers.” I’m not sure Fabio Borini will be too enamoured by Gerrard’s comments. The 22-year-old Italian forward arrived at Anfield last summer from AS Roma for £10.5 million and after a bout of unfortunate injuries, recently got his first league goal for Liverpool against Newcastle. Borini’s desire has impressed red’s fans when he has played and he’ll now be looking to grasp his opportunity as he gets extra minutes on the pitch due to the ban of Luis Suarez.

With Suarez, Sturridge and Borini at the club and manager Brendan Rodgers preference to deploy just one out and out forward in his team, Gerrard’s comments are a little wide of the mark. Don’t forget Andy Carroll is still owned by Liverpool! For these reasons, acquiring another striker this summer would be a luxury for the reds, rather than a necessity. A luxury which the club perhaps cannot afford.

Whether you agree or disagree with this article, I’m sure you’ll share my opinion that the upcoming summer transfer window is vital if Liverpool are to reach their ambition of returning to Europe’s elite competition – the Champions League.

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