- Liverpool have endured a difficult week after defeats by PSG and Newcastle
- Club legend Jamie Carragher has suggested the side need to act in summer
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Why Eddie Howe is the ‘greatest coach of his generation’
Jamie Carragher has insisted that Liverpool must make ‘five or six’ signings during the summer window amid their ongoing struggles.
The Reds suffered their latest setback on Sunday afternoon after losing the Carabao Cup final 2-1 to Newcastle, which came days after their shootout defeat by PSG.
Though the league will, more than likely, be heading back to Merseyside at the end of the campaign, there are still concerns for Arne Slot heading into the summer.
The ongoing unresolved contract situations of Mohammed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk loom overhead, while the Dutchman must also deal with reshaping an aging squad.
Now, Liverpool legend Carragher has offered his thoughts on the situation and urged Slot to make a number of signings during the summer window.
Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, Carragher reflected on Liverpool’s reliance upon their starting XI stars, to which he said: ‘You can look at it two ways.
Arne Slot has endured his most difficult week at Liverpool since joining the Merseyside club
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has urged Slot to sign ‘five or six’ players during the summer
‘You can say that it’s come back to bite them on the backside, with the Champions League and this cup final. But does that put Liverpool in the position that we are as well? Are the other squad players as good?
‘I don’t think he has any time for four or five players in that squad, and the fact that he didn’t change players at home to Southampton between the PSG games – against one of the worst teams ever in the Premier League – I can accept that this season as this isn’t really his squad, but next season I’m sure he’ll bring players in.
‘He’ll have to trust his squad more because he’ll need to get further in the Champions League, and he can’t accept a performance like that in a cup final.’
‘I’m excited to see where Arne Slot will take Liverpool because it looks like they’re going to win the league, but there are still so many areas to improve.
‘He needs a centre-back as back-up to the two that we have, he’ll need a right-back with Trent Alexander-Arnold likely to leave.
‘I think he needs a centre midfielder to replace Endo, someone younger and that he trusts, a centre-forward to play and a left-winger. There are at least five or six players he needs to get in – three to go straight in the team and three to be strong back-ups.’
Though Alexander-Arnold is likely to leave the club to join Real Madrid, there is hope among supporters that Salah and Van Dijk will extend their deals at Anfield.
Speaking before their Carabao Cup final defeat, Netherlands international Van Dijk urged Liverpool fans not to panic about his contract situation.
Carragher listed a number of positions that he believes Liverpool should strengthen
There are concerns that Virgil van Dijk (left) could leave the club during the summer
‘As long as I am calm to you guys then there is no need to panic, whatever may happen in the future. If I was worried you would see me playing a little bit worried and that is not the case.
‘Maybe I will run this fully down and then if there is still no news, I don’t know. I don’t know at this stage (what will happen). But I don’t want to create any anxiety or anything like that, I just keep my head down and focus on hopefully winning the next 10 games.
‘That is my full focus: to be there for the manager, the players, the fans. So let’s see what it brings and I am sure by the end of the season there will be news. But what kind of news I am not sure.
‘The only thing I can say, and I have said it already many times, is that I am so proud to be the captain of this beautiful club that means so much to me and has meant so much to me in the past, as well as my family.’
Jamie Carragher was speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet
