Arsenal legend Paul Merson believes Liverpool shouldn’t have hijacked Manchester United’s transfer for Cody Gakpo.
Liverpool confirmed the signing of PSV and Dutch World Cup star Gakpo shortly after Christmas for a fee of £37million.
The 23-year-old had been heavily linked with United since the summer and with Erik ten Hag on the hunt for a new goalscorer it was expected that the forward would move to Old Trafford in January.
But instead Gakpo will be playing at Anfield, but while the Reds have hailed the signing and been praised for beating their rivals to such a talented player, some have questioned the logic of it.
Jurgen Kloop’s side already possess a wealth of attacking options, even with Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz out injured, and Roberto Firmino out of contract at the end of the season.
‘Liverpool are signing Cody Gakpo, but they should have signed some midfielders,’ Merson wrote in his column for the Daily Star.
‘Will he even play? When everyone is fit I think he’ll be fifth choice for them in the forward areas.
‘When they’re all fit, they have got [Mohamed] Salah, [Darwin] Nunez, Diaz, Jota, Firmino and now Gakpo up front, but only three of them can play.
‘Salah and Nunez are going to start. So before you know it you’ve got four other forwards vying for one or two places in the team. They won’t all be injured forever.
‘It feels like a, “Stop Manchester United”, signing really. United were trying to get him too and this stops them from doing that.’
It is in midfield where Liverpool have struggled of late and it was thought that they would be investing in that area of the pitch with young superstars like Jude Bellingham and Enzo Fernandez linked.
But having already spent around £122million on transfers this summer, Klopp will surely have to wait until the summer for midfield reinforcements, which could compromise their current campaign.
‘Liverpool have gone top-heavy up front but their midfield is short. They have so many attacking forwards but I don’t think their midfield is good enough,’ Merson added.
‘But Liverpool need a central midfield player badly in my opinion. They don’t have enough quality in there and they don’t have enough legs either.
‘They don’t dominate in the midfield areas the way they used to. When they do that, the full backs have the freedom to roam. Now they can’t.’
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