Richard Hughes' next Liverpool transfer move will be season-defining | OneFootball

The decision to spend on transfers in January or not is going to make or break Liverpool's season.

As pundit Jamie Carragher neatly put it in his column for The Telegraph, the £450m that was spent in the summer clearly hasn't gone far enough to guarantee that we'll qualify for the Champions League.

Hugo Ekitike has already gone a long way to proving his worth and players like Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong are steadily improving week on week. Everything is falling into place.

The Reds aren't trying to achieve perfection, as their mixed season has demonstrated beyond all doubt that we're in a transition. The goal is rather to limit the damage caused by the squad turnover.

In order to achieve the minimum that fans expect from Liverpool each season, it's imperative that areas of weakness are strengthened. For that to happen, FSG will need to fess up to their mistakes.

Shop the LFC Store

LFC x adidas

Shop the away range TODAY

LFC x adidas

Shop the home range today!

LFC x adidas

Shop the goalkeeper range today

LFC x adidas Third Kit

Shop the third kit range today!

© IMAGO - John Henry FSG

Will FSG give Liverpool the necessary resources?

Spending £450m in a transfer window is rare, and it's even more ridiculous for a team to still have areas for improvement that fans are desperate to be resolved just six months later, but here we are.

What often gets overlooked from the summer spend is that £192m was brought in through sales, which meant that the net spend from the transfer activity was only £260m, which is a far better figure to get you head around when you consider the standard of upgrades that were purchased.

The injury of Italian signing Giovanni Leoni couldn't have been forecasted and the belief in Rio Ngumoha was hardly misplaced, he's just not quite at the right physical level to play regularly.

As such, when Carragher calls for a forward and a centre-back to be signed, it's understandable.

Problematically, however, The Athletic believe that Liverpool are "planning for a quiet month", adding that "club sources have indicated there will not be a flurry of activity in January", although "there may still be room for an addition. The recruitment team has "the freedom to react".

Where should Liverpool be prioritising?

While a lot of the focus has been on Antoine Semenyo, prior to Manchester City taking charge in negotiations, the Reds actually have more than enough forwards to get by for the rest of the season.

Alexander Isak has a broken leg and might not return before April, while Mohamed Salah is unavailable until he's back from AFCON towards the end of January, but aside from those two, the situation isn't that bad. Hugo Ekitike, Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and Wirtz are all available and youngsters Jayden Danns, Will Wright and Ngumoha ought to be called upon at some point.

The focus should really stay on long-term targets like Michael Olise, with plans drawn up for a concentrated effort to persuade him to leave Bayer Munich in the summer for a blockbuster fee.

Meanwhile, the need for a defender is far more severe, with Slot referring to Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo as emergency centre-back options behind Joe Gomez who is our only depth in the role.

It makes sense financially for Liverpool to wait for Marc Guehi to be available as a free agent in June, and the player's intention looks to be on a similar path. But someone else has to arrive in instead in January since Leoni will not return until the season's wrapped up. It would be reckless not to do so.

After all, Ibrahima Konate might still be on his way out when the season ends and he would need to be replaced in addition to the bonus centre-back that needs to come in to expand Slot's squad.

Of the two main demands for this January transfer window, the defender has to be top of the list.

Slot to be hung out to dry?

As much as it might feel bizarre to claim Slot would be hung out to dry if FSG don't back him again, that's exactly what will have happened. Three centre-backs available since September and no senior left-wing depth behind Gakpo are two issues that are screaming out for attention.

If it's one position or the other, we know what needs to happen, but it's plausible that we get no one.

That would be a season-defining judgement call and it might also be a future-deciding call for Arne Slot, whose job could be on the line once again if there's a real prospect we fail to qualify for next season's Champions League, Europa League or Conference league - none of which are guaranteed.

So far, the Reds have been able to put themselves four points away from finishing in the automatic qualification slots for the last 16 of the Champions League, if we look back on how last season went.

And in the Premier League, the team is averaging 1.77 points per game, which is a projected 68-point finish - which is nip and tuck for a top four spot, although the club's form could quite easily decline.

FSG and the club's executives will be well aware of how tentative the current position is, and putting a bit more funding on the table would make a significant difference. Otherwise, we're in trouble and it's more than likely that Liverpool could find themselves in an embarrassing self-inflicted nightmare.