Jamie Carragher said Liverpool must bring in three players who can walk straight into the starting XI next season, and he was blunt about two specific needs: a replacement for Mo Salah and a right-back. "For me three players need to come straight into the team," Carragher added, laying out a short shopping list for the summer window.
The former defender — who played 737 times for Liverpool — pointed to the expensive signings of the past year and concluded: "[The big-spending summer] hasn't worked, it might work in the future because I don't think you can judge every signing in the first year." He singled out Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz by name. Liverpool signed Isak from Newcastle on September 1, and Carragher said the striker "has not come near the heights that made him a £125m footballer." Wirtz, who cost Liverpool £116m between November and January, scored all six of his goals in that same November-to-January window but then missed three games in late February and early March with a back injury.
Carragher linked those mixed returns to circumstances around the players. He noted Isak arrived unfit after a lack of pre-season and then suffered a leg break at Tottenham Hotspur on December 20 that led to a four-month lay-off. Wirtz, meanwhile, had a brief period of form followed by more subdued displays after his November-to-January surge of six goals.
The right-back role was another clear concern. "You need a right-back, they have fudged a few things there, they gave Conor Bradley his chance, he got another injury," Carragher said, while also suggesting Conor Bradley can still "fight" with any new signing that arrives. On the right wing, he named Jeremie Frimpong as someone who should be the back-up to whatever attacking wide player Liverpool bring in next summer. Carragher also offered a qualified appraisal of the wider recruitment: he acknowledged that not every signing can be judged in year one, but remained firm that the summer business has so far failed to deliver the immediate quality Liverpool need.
There were small positives in his assessment. Carragher said Hugo Ekitike "has done well," and he accepted the argument that long-term judgment is necessary for some players. But the takeaway was blunt and practical: Liverpool must add three players capable of starting at Anfield next season, and one of those must be a right-back who can solve a recurring problem.
The tension in Carragher's position is plain. He both criticized the big-spending summer for failing to produce consistent, immediate upgrades and warned against writing off signings after a single season. That leaves Liverpool with a narrow path: act decisively to fill the three spots Carragher demands, while accepting that at least some of last summer's recruits may yet justify the outlay in time.
For a club that paid big fees for players such as Wirtz and signed Isak on September 1 only to see injury and fitness issues limit returns, Carragher's prescription is a deadline as much as it is a scouting brief. "In terms of what Liverpool need to do next season, well obviously they need to replace Salah," he said, returning to the simplest mandate for the summer: recruit ready players who will improve the team from day one.
