Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has expressed his worries about Liverpool’s ongoing pursuit of Southampton midfielder Roméo Lavia.
Despite several attempts, the Reds have been unable to reach an agreement with Southampton, which is holding out for a $64m (£50m/€58m) fee for the 19-year-old player. Carragher believes that Liverpool’s current predicament can be traced back to its failure to strengthen the midfield during the summer of 2022.
Carragher voiced his concerns during an episode of The Overlap’s Fan Debate, stating: “This [the problem] goes back to last summer, Liverpool didn’t buy a midfield player, so everyone in that core becomes another twelve months older.” He emphasized the need for new signings to inject youth and energy into the squad, especially considering the age and potential decline of some key players.
Everyone’s talking this one’s gone, that one’s gone,” said the Sky Sports pundit. “It was right for them to go, it was right for James Milner to go, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, [Naby] Keita, and you’re getting offered massive money from Saudi Arabia for Fabinho and Jordan Henderson who looked like their legs had completely gone last season.
“Jordan Henderson’s 33, Fabinho you’re not quite sure. Because they didn’t get anyone last summer who was twenty-three or twenty-four, you end up in a situation with players that are old, coming to the end of their careers, some of them great players for Liverpool and you’re left with almost nothing there.
“They’ve won the lottery with the money they have received for these players, got them off the wage bill because it looked like at times last season that there was nothing left there. To be fair to Liverpool, in the transfer market in the last five or six years they’re clinical. Bang and it’s done, there’s no talk about something, it gets announced and done the next day.
