Ex-Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes finding a forward to cover for Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah is a “problem” for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
The Reds’ prolific front three have scored a combined 161 goals since the start of the 2017/18 season and have played a huge role in Liverpool’s success in recent years.
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Beyond them, the likes of Divock Origi, Xherdan Shaqiri and Dominic Solanke have been unable to provide consistent back-up at various times, while Klopp decided against dipping into the transfer market this summer.
Should one of Firmino, Mane or Salah sustain a long-term injury, it could leave Klopp having to make a big tactical change, and Neville thinks the struggle to attract a striker who is happy to sit on the bench is a real problem for Liverpool.
“Who’s going to come in as a striker at Liverpool?” he said on Sky Sports’ ‘Big Season Debate’.
“If you’re Liverpool, wanting to spend £75m on a striker now or a forward, those front three that are there now aren’t going to be happy sitting on the bench.
“So you’re going to have to **** them off right away and the guy coming in for £75m isn’t going to sit on the bench. You have got a bit of a problem.
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“We [United] had it in the late 2000s, late 90s, with Beckham, Scholes, Keane and Giggs. They were too good, so anyone that came in was never going to get in. They were unbelievable.
“You couldn’t break that four. So when Veron signed, he was always going to fail because the reality of it is: those four were set in stone.
“So that’s the thing: if Liverpool did invest now, £75m, they’ve got a bit of a conundrum.
“They’ve got a really great front three that they can’t probably refresh at this time as no-one will come in.
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“They’ll just look at it, if you’re a striker from Barcelona or another club in Europe looking at Liverpool, you’ll think I’m not going there – I’m not going to get in.”
Liverpool kicked off their 2019/20 campaign in strong fashion, beating newly promoted Norwich City 4-1 at Anfield on Friday.
The Reds take on Chelsea in the European Super Cup on Wednesday before travelling to Southampton on Saturday.