Steven Gerrard has called on Liverpool to sign a goalscoring midfielder after watching his former club succumb to defeat in the Champions League final.
Liverpool couldn't find a way past an inspired Thibaut Courtois at the Stade de France, with Vinicius Jr's second half goal giving Real Madrid victory. The result meant that, across three cup finals this season, Jurgen Klopp's side haven't scored a single goal in regulation time.
Gerrard scored 185 goals in his Liverpool career, including a high mark of 24 in the 2008-09 season. Speaking after the narrow defeat in Paris where the Aston Villa manager had been working for BT Sport, the former England midfielder laid out exactly what Liverpool need to do in the transfer market.
"Jordan [Henderson] and James Milner are not getting any younger," Gerrard told BT Sport after the game. "They’re still top players at this level, of course, and they’ll want to go on and do more.
"But for Liverpool, if you think about the next five, six, seven years, they’re going to need a midfielder, an eight, who can get goals, who can get double figures. They are heavily reliant on the front three [Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz] – or the front five if you include Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino. But you always need one of those midfielders that’s going to get in the box and get you goals."
Liverpool scored 94 goals in the Premier League in the 2021-22 season, but 54 of those came from Salah, Mane and Jota. No Reds midfielder scored more in the league than Fabinho with five, and two of those came from the penalty spot.
Who should Liverpool sign this summer? Have your say in the comments section
Liverpool have already dipped into the transfer market this summer, confirming an agreement to sign Fulham starlet Fabio Carvalho. They have also agreed terms in principle with Aurelien Tchouameni, but could still miss out on the French midfielder with Real Madrid leading the race, and are sure to be linked with other midfield options as the transfer window draws on over the summer.
You have to go all the way back to 2016-17 for the last time a Liverpool midfielder scored 10 league goals in a season. The man in question, Philippe Coutinho, is now playing under Gerrard at Aston Villa after his loan move from Barcelona was made permanent.
"I don't think LIverpool did too much wrong," Gerrard told BT Sport in the aftermath of the Champions League setback." Okay they weren't clinical and ruthless to take those chances - but a keeper just got man of the match against them in a final.
"Make no mistake, they will bounce back. You have those experiences to learn from. This game is either the best night of your life or one of the worst. They will dust themselves down and go for it all again next year."
