Jurgen Klopp may rue his decision not to enter the market for a midfielder this summer transfer window, according to Liverpool hero Didi Hamann.
The Reds manager has made it clear he will not be entering the market again this year after splashing out up to £100million for Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay. That is despite Liverpool's strong links with Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Jude Bellingham, who is viewed as one of Europe's brightest prospects.
Many of the Anfield faithful suspect a new face in the centre of the park is needed for their side to topple the dominance of Manchester City in the Premier League. Klopp does not usually play with a conventional No. 10 but Hamann claims the lack of a creative midfielder is hindering his former side by placing the goalscoring burden solely on the forwards.
"The biggest issue with Liverpool is the lack of an attacking midfielder. They need to find a few goals from midfield but the way they're set up now I can't see them doing that," Hamann told Genting Casino. The Reds failed to find the back of the net in their most-recent pre-season friendly, losing 1-0 at Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday.
Nonetheless, Hamann is confident the result is no cause for concern due to the team Klopp put out, adding: "Fans shouldn't be worried about Liverpool's pre-season form. RB Salzburg have already started their season so in terms of fitness they're two or three weeks ahead of Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp made a lot of changes so I wouldn't read too much into that result."
Liverpool return to action when they face City in the Community Shield on Saturday and - not for the first time this pre-season - fans will be eager to see how potential club-record signing Nunez gets on. The Uruguay international joined from Benfica this summer and plundered four goals in a convincing victory over RB Leipzig.
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Hamann highlighted how Nunez brings a different "dynamic" to the Liverpool attack compared to his predecessor in the centre-forward role, Roberto Firmino. "It remains to be seen how the dynamics of the team change because Darwin Nunez is a different player to Roberto Firmino, who made the centre-forward position his own for the last few years," Hamann said, before turning his attention to Liverpool's options on the left wing.
"And then in Sadio Mane, Liverpool lost a player who averaged over 20 goals and 10 or 15 assists per season and we need to see if Luis Diaz can do that. He had a good start to his Liverpool career but whether he can do it year in, year out remains to be seen."
