Former Sunderland midfielder Ally McCoist insists Liverpool should gone big on Jude Bellingham or Declan Rice last season

Former Sunderland midfielder Ally McCoist believes Liverpool should gone big on landing either Jude Bellingham or Declan Rice earlier and not put themselves in their current situation.

Liverpool’s midfield problems are no latest news. The Reds are facing multiple dilemmas when it comes to the middle of the park. Inconsistent performances, frequency of injuries and an ageing squad, especially the midfielders are just a few of the issues manager Jurgen Klopp has to face.

The lack of investment for midfielders over the summer is now starting to hurt the Reds. In the entirety of the summer transfer window of 2022, only one established European-level midfielder joined the Reds, Arthur Melo from Juventus, and that too, on loan.

Several injuries have ensured that the gaffer does not have a proper set of players he could rely on week in and week out. Too many tweaks and experimentations have led to the shaky start Liverpool have endured in the initial weeks of their league campaign.

At times like these, one would think in retrospect that a big-fat check invested in the club would have made sure that a quality midfielder or two would have joined the Reds. Someone like Bellingham or Rice would have especially been of great help to the Merseysiders.

Former Sunderland midfielder Ally McCoist believes that a deal for either player should have taken place much earlier and the current situation of Liverpool struggling in the league could have been different. Here is what he said via Liverpool Echo:

“I think Liverpool should have broken the bank and got that deal done earlier. How long have you and I been speaking about looking at Liverpool’s midfield?”

Liverpool’s midfield is a problem

The pair, who are part of the England squad for the World Cup in Qatar later this month, could have been extremely influential in Liverpool’s midfield. However, with the spending patterns of the club’s owners, it would have been difficult to see such big-name signings without an expensive outgoing. Even Sadio Mane was allowed to join Bayern Munich for only £35m which is practically peanuts when compared to the valuation of Rice and Bellingham.

More Liverpool News

• Liverpool join Manchester United in the race for Cody Gakpo
• Stefan Leitl opens up on Liverpool interest in Hannover 96 goalie Ron-Robert Zieler
• Barcelona join the race for Liverpool target Youssoufa Moukoko

With the midfield issues opening up this summer, one would naturally expect the Reds to invest heavily to sort out their problems either in January or the next summer window.