Liverpool have been urged to sign Leicester City attacker Riyad Mahrez by former Scotland international and BBC Sports pundit Pat Nevin, following the shock FA Cup exit at the hands of West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. The FA Cup was seen as the Reds’ most likely avenue to win a trophy this season, but all the hopes were dashed when they were beaten 3-2 by Alan Pardew’s Baggies at Anfield.
In the wake of the defeat, calls for manager Jurgen Klopp to strengthen his side took voice again. Nevin has advised the club to make a move for the Foxes before the January transfer window slams shut.
The Algerian winger was reportedly a £49m target for us but the club decided to not pursue his signature and eventually informed the Foxes that we are not interested in their player. The BBC pundit has urged us to change our stance on the situation and move for Mahrez.
“Riyad Mahrez would thrive in this Liverpool team,” Nevin told BBC 5 Live, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.
“Because he plays well in teams that have a lot of possession, and that play attacking football. Mahrez just looks like a Liverpool player to me, and if I was in charge at Liverpool, I’d be banging down Leicester’s door to get him.”
Liverpool legend and the club’s current U-18 manager Steven Gerrard was also critical of the Reds’ performance against West Brom during the midweek. Speaking to BT Sport (h/t Liverpool Echo) he said:
“This club is about winning trophies so to get knocked out of this competition is a big blow for Jurgen Klopp and a big blow for this team.
“This was a realistic trophy that they could’ve won. Obviously, they’re not one of the favourites to win the Champions League – you never know what can happen in that competition, of course – but this was their best chance of silverware.
“Liverpool weren’t good enough. It could have been more than 3-1 at half-time. West Brom caused Liverpool all kinds of problems. That’s the worst I’ve seen Liverpool here this season.”
The display against West Brom was clearly one of our worst this season and Gerrard is right in pointing out that we missed out on our only realistic chance of silverware.
While Klopp has maintained a strong stance that he is no hurry to replace Coutinho, signing a player of the quality and proven pedigree of Mahrez could prove to be a game-changer for the club on the whole. With only a couple of days left in the window, let’s hope our manager decides to bring in some reinforcements.
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