‘Liverpool will only buy in January if they’re desperate’ – Barnes not convinced Van Dijk cover will be sought

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The ex-Reds midfielder feels value is hard to come by in the winter window, meaning that Jurgen Klopp will keep faith what those already on his books

John Barnes is not convinced that Liverpool will look to sign another centre-half in January, with the Reds legend saying Jurgen Klopp will only spend if he gets “desperate” despite Virgil van Dijk being ruled out through injury.

Plenty have suggested that the reigning Premier League champions have already reached that stage.

Losing commanding Dutch centre-half Van Dijk to knee ligament damage has delivered an untimely blow to long-term plans at Anfield.

An opportunity to land proven cover will present itself at the turn of the year, with Liverpool already being linked with the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Ben White and Dayot Upamecano.

Barnes, though, believes the Reds can make do with Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and promising academy graduates Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams.

He sees no reason to splash the cash for the sake of it, with winter windows notoriously difficult to find value in.

The Liverpool icon told BonusCodeBets: “To be honest, while you have to have it in the back of your mind, I think focus needs to be on what we have. And have confidence in what we have, because we're still top of the league and we’re still doing well in Europe.

“So I think we'll have to wait until January to decide who we should get - if anyone.

“Of course, if we start to concede goals and feel that we’re missing a trick, then maybe; but January isn’t a good time to buy anyway, because you don't get the best players. They're all in the Champions League.

“You'll end up spending money and not necessarily improving. So why do that? Unless you're desperate. And I'm hoping for us not to be desperate.”

Klopp has offered little indication that he will be looking to bolster his ranks in 2021.

He has seen Liverpool face questions of supposed defensive frailties, but they are back at the top of the Premier League table and making impressive progress in Europe.

With there no obvious faults to fix, and the likes of Matip and Alisson returning to the fold, it may be that the Reds look to play the hand they have been dealt for the rest of the current campaign.

2020-11-06 18:00:08

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