Jamie Carragher is of the opinion that manager Jurgen Klopp has to focus on strengthening the squad rather than the first team. He says that Liverpool showed last season – especially in the big games – that the club’s starting line-up was capable of going head-to-head with the best in the business. However, the team was badly let down during the months of January when there were a lot of games coupled with the exit of some key players for the Africa Cup of Nations. Carragher says that focus on improving the squad strength will be the key for Liverpool in this 2017 summer transfer window.

The Reds have been linked with a move for Mohamed Salah, who is increasingly likely to join us from Roma. However, he will cost around £35 million and he is expected to play a significant role in the first-team. Carragher was quoted by the club’s official website as saying;

“The actual team, the XI, could go up against anyone – we saw that in the big games with some great results in those games.

“But rather than just adding players to the squad, you want to add players to the team. If you add three or four players and they go straight into the first XI, three or four of those who were playing week in, week out last season go to the bench.

“It makes the bench a lot stronger and your team a lot stronger. It’s not just numbers.”

We were the closest challengers for Chelsea, who were the eventual champions, up until January. However, the performance was extremely poor in January and February and this ultimately led to the club finishing well below the blues. Next season will be more of a challenge to fight for the league title while also hoping to win some trophies in order to keep the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane happy at Anfield.

Carragher has watched Liverpool add Dominic Solanke to the squad on a free transfer from Chelsea. He will certainly be a squad player, despite his undisputed potential, which was clearly evident during the under-20 World Cup. Solanke may not inspire a lot of confidence in terms of making a push for the league title, but he could be an extremely integral part of the squad.

Liverpool faced a major setback in order to strengthen the defence, which is probably one of the few areas that needs improvement in the starting line-up. It remains to be seen if Liverpool will be able to complete a couple of key signings before the start of the pre-season.