Jamie Carragher’s claim that January could be a chance for Liverpool to really push the boat out in the transfer window is something I’d go along with right now.
Carragher was speaking on the Overlap podcast last week about how the New Year would be a chance to bring in the right player that just helps sustain a push for honours in the second half of the season and we know there is money in the bank.
Liverpool, barring a collapse in December or an injury crisis, will be operating from a position of strength when the window opens so they don’t need to do anything daft or panic buy purely for the sake of it.
We’ve seen before, however, what the right player can add to an already impressive squad, with the most recent example being a couple of years ago when Luis Diaz was signed and the team pushed all the way to the Champions League final while getting 92 points in the league and winning both domestic cups.
We also know Liverpool largely kept their powder dry in the summer with just Federico Chiesa arriving for about £10-12m, so Arne Slot has the same squad as the one he inherited when Jurgen Klopp left and I can see why there might be space to accommodate a game-changer in there. But look, it’s good to be the right player at the right price.
Injuries will start to ease and it will be great to see the likes of Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Harvey Elliott hopefully back on the other side of the international break and fingers crossed there won’t be any more injuries to any key players.
But having said that, Liverpool might be in a position where there is absolutely no harm in bringing in an insurance policy to help the cause because we just don’t know what might be opening up for the Reds this season.
Manchester City could yet even drop more points with the 115 charges that are hanging over them and they have not been at the races for the last four games, losing all of them for the first time in Pep Guardiola’s career. It’s why adding in an injection of quality at such a vitally important period of the season could make a world of difference.
That being said, I’m not tempting fate too soon. We know Manchester City are capable of going on an incredible run where you are talking about them winning 12 or 13 on the spin, so I’m certainly not counting any chickens yet. But having won the last four Premier League titles in an unprecedented feat, it is so hard to keep winning on top of all of that. The pressure and expectations are there and at the moment they are having quite the wobble.
Time will tell, of course. I am certainly not writing off City yet but in terms of adding to the Liverpool squad in January, I think it is an idea that makes sense but it has to be the right player, most definitely.Jones can make No.10 spot his own
I don’t often make a habit of watching England games in international breaks but I must say Curtis Jones has done himself no harm during this one. His lovely flick in the 3-0 win over Greece was a cracking goal and he followed that up with another performance in the 5-0 victory over Ireland on Sunday too.
