• [Liverpool Echo Icon]
• Sport
• Football
• Liverpool FC

Liverpool need 'four or five' more transfers as legend issues recruitment warning

Liverpool are about to enter a new era under Andoni Iraola but Phil Thompson is calling for more recruits.

[Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola]

View Image

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola applauds the fans following the pre-season match at Anfield against Como(Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

Liverpool still need to bring in 'four or five' more players before they can think about competing at the top end of the Premier League this season.

That's the view of former Reds captain Phil Thompson, who has concerns about the defensive depth at Andoni Iroala's disposal with the first game of the new campaign against Newcastle United just five days away.

French international Ibrahima Konate and veteran full-back Andy Robertson both left Anfield on the expiry of their contracts in June. Jeremy Jacquet has since arrived from Rennes in a 60m deal, while Barcelona captain Roland Araujo has joined on loan for the season, to strengthen centre-back options further.

However, Thompson, 72, himself a former Liverpool centre-back, is insistent that further reinforcements are required. Speaking on the latest edition of Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, in partnership with BOYLE Sports, he said: "Defensively we do need more. It is a particular area if Jacquet isn't fully ready, who is going to be there? It's a difficult one. We still need recruitment.

"I think we probably need four, maybe five players in total in different positions. Defensively, certainly, a midfield player, a wide player; you need two quality players for every position. There's work to be done."

Despite Thompson's clear call for some urgency in the transfer market, Liverpool are continuing in their big-money pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola and, with owners Fenway Sports Group selling a minority stake in the club for around 1.4billion last week, the former skipper can see huge deals coming down the tracks.

"The finance side of it, we could spend that money because we've done very, very well in sales," he added.

"And when you look at it, just the investment in which we get into the football club, the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United, when you see them travelling the world, it shows that they are the two biggest football clubs.

"People want to invest in them, so you have that, and I think it contributes towards a better buying power even with the restrictions that you have."

FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page

Regardless of who arrives at Anfield before the transfer window comes to an end, the team is embarking on a new frontier under the control of new boss Andoni Iraola.

Thompson, who won seven league titles at Anfield as well as three European Cups, is confident that the Spaniard can bring the necessary change required to get fans back onside, but has warned the former Bournemouth boss that he will find the challenge quite different compared to the Cherries.

"Change can be good, change can be bad. You change because things have been going wrong - it's not like Jurgen Klopp leaving on a high," said Thompson.

"Things have gone wrong, so you need a new manager, new ideas, you need the players to tap into him as quickly as possible. Arne Slot came in and surprised us all by winning the league. The players invested in that from Jurgen Klopp. Hopefully this time there is a difference.

"We've got to get the intensity back; we've got to get the fans back on board, in which everything has been lost, and that's what he did at Bournemouth. [But] Bournemouth is not Liverpool.

"The big thing about it is that Bournemouth, a lot of the time, were almost the underdogs in games and played a lot of counter-attacking football.

"With Liverpool, one of the biggest problems is breaking down packed defences.

"This is where he's got to find that ingredient with someone like Florian Wirtz, where do you get the best out of him, and to have Alexander Isak firing, that can do them a lot of good."

[Liverpool Echo Icon]

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Choose Liverpool Echo as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.