The clamour has started and the yearning for new players is already rife. The transfer window is open after all.
Fans up and down the country will try to persuade their respective teams to make moves in January. Sections of Kopites will be no different. Look at the comments on Linda Pizzuti, the wife of Reds principal owner John Henry’s Instagram. You’d think Jurgen Klopp’s side were battling Premier League relegation not leading the way for the title given some of the messages that have been left.
It can be understood that some supporters would like to see Liverpool strengthen so they can continue to fend off Manchester City and claim the crown. It appears that the race for the silverware will go down to the wire again and every small margin will be crucial.
What’s more, the Reds are saying goodbye to their talisman. Mo Salah heads off to the African Cup of Nations, having plundered 14 goals and recorded eight assists so far. In the current squad, there is no like-for-like replacement. And if Egypt reach the AFCON final, as they did two years ago when beaten on penalties by Sadio Mane’s Senegal, Salah will be absent for seven games.
Speaking last week before the 4-2 win over Newcastle United, Klopp insisted that he hadn’t even considered how Liverpool will operate in the 31-year-old’s absence. The Reds boss said: “Each long-term plan I could have had depends massively on who is available so why should I think in October who should I use in January when Mo is away when I don’t know who is available?
“We have solutions today and I hope we have that after Newcastle as well. It is not the first time, it is a really very average situation that you lose your goal scorer but we had it even worse in the past when both Sadio and Mo left.”
Klopp now at least has Diogo Jota, who has made a barnstorming impact since returning from injury, to deploy in the position. Harvey Elliott is another capable of playing on the flank.
To compound Liverpool’s frustrations with Salah leaving, Wataru Endo could miss the same number of games. The midfielder has been in tremendous form now he’s settled at Anfield following his summer arrival from Stuttgart. At this juncture of his Reds career, even he must be slightly perturbed about having to be absent for a period.
In truth, the relentless calls to sign a new No.6 have only just started to relent. While Endo was acclimatising to filling the void left by Fabinho and Alexis Mac Allister’s attacking prowess negated in the deep-lying role, Fluminense’s Andre Trindade was the name on social media that portions of fans hounded for. As things stand, it appears the Brazil international will be heading to Fulham after Liverpool reportedly had an approach rebuffed in the summer and cooled their interest.
