Man City disaster shows Liverpool need Argentina star
Published:Liverpool have been far from quiet in the transfer market so far this summer, but their 3-1 loss at Premier League champions Manchester City showed there is still work to be done at Anfield.
The Reds are 14/1 to go one better than their second-place finish of last season, but Brendan Rodgers must address two big issues in his starting 11 if that is to be the case.
Firstly, Glen Johnson must be dropped from his right-back berth, an easy enough problem to fix with Javi Manquillo and Jon Flanagan also available to the Reds’ manager.
The second weakness is more difficult to address, as Liverpool don’t currently have a real alternative to the unreliable Simon Mignolet on their books.
The Belgian was caught hopelessly out of position for Man City’s third goal at the Etihad, leaving Sergio Aguero with the easiest of finishes.
That was far from his first error in a Liverpool shirt, as Mignolet made five mistakes leading to goals last season, the most by any player in the Premier League.
Rodgers at least needs to sign a reasonable back up keeper, as Brad Jones is his current fallback option after Pepe Reina’s move to Bayern Munich.
Currently, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur all arguably have two keepers better than the Reds’ first choice, a damning indictment of their transfer strategy between the sticks.
Fortunately for Liverpool, there is one man still on the market who fits their needs like the very snuggest of gloves.
Argentina international Sergio Romero, fresh from a World Cup final, remains out of favour at Sampdoria and is reportedly available for as little as £2m.
The 27-year-old stopper spent last season as second choice at Monaco, suggesting he would be prepared to warm the bench at Anfield if Rodgers did stick with Mignolet, but Romero would also be some genuine competition for the Belgian.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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