Graeme Souness has claimed on Sky Sports Liverpool are still lacking a midfield creator in the mould of David Silva or Kevin De Bruyne.
The Merseyside giants are challenging strongly for the title this season and are currently level on points with champions City at the top of the Premier League.
But ex-Liverpool boss Souness is convinced that Jurgen Klopp’s side are still missing something in midfield after signing Naby Keita and Fabinho in the summer and narrowly missing out on the capture of Nabil Fekir from Lyon.
He told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football programme: “I think [concern about midfield] is how Jurgen sees it as well. He signed two midfield players this summer, and went for Nabil Fekir from Lyon as the third. That tells you he thinks he needs to strengthen.
“I think that’s what it is. They have three real workaholics in there, but I don’t think they’ve got anyone in there who is really cute and clever, like a David Silva or a Kevin De Bruyne. But these are hard players to find.”
OPINION
Souness is spot on. For all James Milner’s excellence on and off the ball, the energy of Jordan Henderson and the composure of Georginio Wijnaldum, Liverpool’s main flaw is midfield creation. Klopp has built a mighty fine side, but can they go to the next level with the players in the centre of the pitch all being of a fairly similar mould? Klopp used Xherdan Shaqiri as the playmaker against Huddersfield, with Adam Lallana as the left-sided attacker, and the Swiss did lay on the game’s only goal with a smart pass to Mohamed Salah. But even Shaqiri’s greatest admirers would recognise he is no Silva or De Bruyne. Or Philippe Coutinho, the brilliant number 10 sold by Liverpool to Barcelona in January. Lallana could be that player, but injuries have robbed him of a year of his career, and the same goes for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. As for Keita, he is more of a driving, ball carrying number eight. Liverpool have good options in the middle of the pitch but still lack a Fekir-style gamechanger and it is easy to see why they tried so hard to sign him.