With a Champions League spot guaranteed and a late push for the title on the cards courtesy of last night’s incredible win over Manchester United, Liverpool must start thinking of strengthening their squad sooner than later.
Among the primary concerns in the squad, are the lack of a defensive midfielder apart from Lucas and a creative attacking midfielder stands tall.
While the combination of Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson has done wonders for the club in the Premier League, they are not experienced when it comes to the European stages and Liverpool need reinforcements to put up some kind of a challenge in the Champions League.
Now one of the obvious transfer targets for Liverpool in the summer would be Yevhen Konoplyanka who almost made a move to the club in the winter, if not for some last minute complications. There were high speculations then that the player had agreed to the move, only to be refused to let go by the club.
It was also thought that Liverpool had already made an arrangement with the club to bring the player to England in the summer and such a move would surprise no one. But is it really meaningful to go for a player such as Konoplyanka for a club that nurtures title ambitions amongst other things?
For a start, Konoplyanka is a decent player making his mark in the Ukrainian league with his club Dnipro. He has caught the eye of the footballing world with his pace and flair and his knack of scoring goals. His finishing is composite and he can boast of an excellent work rate.
But having said that, it is a fact that he plays in a league which is much inferior to the Premier League and he would take quite a bit of time adjusting to the needs of the English league. It will take him surmountable amount of practise to get used to the immense pressure that a player in the top leagues of the world has to face playing in front of huge crowds against their arch rivals.
Also to accommodate Konoplyanka, one among Sterling or Coutinho has to be sacrificed by Rodgers. While Coutinho’s performance has deteriorated to an extent after such a promising start last season, it is definitely not the time to leave him out of the squad for an unproven player. Sterling, on the other hand, has had a remarkable season for the club, where he has scored goals, assisted the two strikers upfront, bulldozed the defenders and ran throughout the pitch. Dropping him at this stage of the career for Konoplyanka will hinder his progress and that in turn would be a long term loss for the club.
Thus we can conclude that if any one of these players are to be dropped then it should be for a player who would improve the squad radically and not for some unproven star who would take time to adjust to the league.
The one person for whom Liverpool should go all out for, come this summer, is Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos. Kroos is already on the transfer wish-list of Manchester United and if reports are to believed, then his departure from Bayern is all but confirmed.
Under these circumstances, with the additional revenue from the Champions League qualification, and with the attraction of European competition, something which United seem to be missing out this season, Liverpool are in no way behind their rivals in luring the 24 year old to Anfield. He would come to the club with a vast experience of playing at European level and having already played 124 Bundesliga games.
The Liverpool management are determined to make an impact in the summer transfer window and Kroos would exactly be the kind of player who would make Liverpool more than just a challenger.