5 things Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool must do this summer

#3 Improve squad depth

The arrival of Naby Keita will bolster the Liverpool midfield

Since Klopp took over as manager, Liverpool have signed 12 players on a permanent deal (including Alex Manninger who retired after a season) and has sold or released as many as 22 players.

This has helped Klopp create a strong first XI but Liverpool lack the squad depth in quality to compete on four fronts.

Despite possessing Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Emre Can, Adam Lallana, Gini Wijnaldum and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as midfield options, Liverpool were left with only three fit senior midfielders towards the end of the season which made rotation impossible with fixtures piling up.

Thankfully for Liverpool, they didn’t have to deal with injuries to any of their front three because the options to replace any of them include Danny Ings, Dominic Solanke and Ben Woodburn.

Naby Keita will arrive from RB Leipzig in the summer after Liverpool wrapped up a deal to sign the player a year ago but the impending departure of Emre Can means Klopp could be forced to sign another midfielder in the summer.

The goalkeeping and defence departments may not need a new signing in the summer as there are at least two players for each position at the moment although an upgrade over Loris Karius and Dejan Lovren would benefit the team massively.

It is in attack that Liverpool need to invest massively but this is a tricky scenario. Liverpool need at least one player who can match the level of the current front three or better it (if that’s possible) and can maybe play in different positions. Even if they find one such player, the problem Klopp will have is to give enough game time to all four players.

The Reds are linked with a move for Lyon’s Nabil Fekir who predominantly plays as an attacking midfielder but can also play up front or as a right-winger. However, Fekir doesn’t possess the pace of Salah or Mane.

Another forward who has been linked with Liverpool is Ousmane Dembele. Klopp is a known admirer of the young French international and although the rumoured move is a loan, it will help Liverpool in more than one way.

Dembele is capable of playing on either wing which means Klopp can rest any of his front three including Firmino by playing Mo Salah up front. In addition, acquiring Dembele for a season means Liverpool can redirect a significant transfer fee to other areas of the pitch.

It will be very interesting to see how Klopp’s summer transfer plans unfold and we may only have to wait until the end of the Champions League final to see them unravel.