‘A bit messy…’ – Jamie Carragher questions Liverpool transfer strategy amid £150m concern | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher has questioned one aspect of Liverpool’s transfer strategy that he feels has been ‘a bit messy’.

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On the whole it’s been a hugely exciting summer on the marketplace for Reds fans, with more than £250m spent on new recruits such as Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, and it appears that the expenditure mightn’t be done there.

The Premier League champions had an opening offer of £110m for Alexander Isak turned down by Newcastle last week (The Athletic), although Jan Aage Fjortoft has claimed that there’s a prevailing feeling within the ‘football community’ that the Swedish striker (who’s valued at £150m by his club) will end up at Anfield.

Carragher decries ‘messy’ Isak pursuit

While Carragher has talked up the Magpies’ number 14, he decried what he perceived as a lack of planning by Liverpool to secure a £79m deal for Ekitike and then look to spend a nine-figure sum on another centre-forward.

Speaking to journalist Martyn Ziegler on The Overlap Fan Debate, the former Reds defender said: “He will be an amazing signing, but from a Liverpool fan’s point of view, for myself, I don’t want Liverpool to spend £150m on Isak.

“You just said he’s Liverpool’s number one target, and I can probably imagine that, but there’s something about Liverpool buying another striker [Ekitike] for £80m and he’s backup. Something about it doesn’t quite feel right to me. I know Liverpool need numbers, for a number of reasons, at the top end of the pitch.”

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Carragher continued: “I look at Isak, and he’s obviously thrown his toys out of the pram once Arsenal signed a striker and Liverpool signed a striker. From his and his agent’s point of view, do they not tell Newcastle months ago that they wanted to move on?

“It feels a bit messy to me now. For me, when I think of Liverpool, it doesn’t look really planned. I don’t think the plan is to buy a striker for £80m and then be looking to buy another one for £120m.”

Is Carragher right to question Liverpool’s transfer strategy?

The Sky Sports pundit isn’t the first ex-LFC player to question the club’s pursuit of Isak – Steve Nicol has insisted that a centre-back should be the transfer priority this month – and his reservations aren’t without merit.

Even with a significant changing of the guard in the Reds’ attack this summer between the various comings and goings and the tragic death of Diogo Jota, there remains a sense that a lack of defensive depth needs the most urgent addressing.

Going into the new campaign with just three senior centre-backs is far from ideal, particularly when two of those were ruled out of the double header against Athletic Bilbao at Anfield on Monday.

With Darwin Nunez reportedly closing in on a move to Al-Hilal, though, some supporters might feel that Liverpool could be left a bit light up top if Ekitike is the only attacking addition this summer and if (as now seems inevitable) the Uruguayan departs.

Carragher’s argument is valid, and it certainly goes against the grain compared to how the Reds have operated in the market for recent years. Such a viable opportunity to sign a striker of Isak’s output doesn’t present itself too regularly, though, hence why LFC tested the waters with that £110m bid and could try their luck again.