Liverpool should not be investing £50 million ($66m) in a new centre-half “for the sake of it” in January, says Jamie Redknapp, with there no need to panic despite Joe Gomez joining Virgil van Dijk on the treatment table.
The Reds’ wretched run of fortune on the injury front has continued into the November international break.
Having already lost talismanic Dutchman Van Dijk to knee ligament damage , while seeing the likes of Fabinho and Joel Matip pick up knocks, Gomez has now been forced out of the England squad.
He has suffered a knee problem of his own, but Redknapp is not convinced that Jurgen Klopp has to splash the cash at the turn of the year as talk of moves for the likes of Dayot Upamecano and Kalidou Koulibaly builds.
The former Reds midfielder told Sky Sports : “It's a difficult one. I've heard people say that they've got to go out and get a really big signing because Virgil is going to be injured, but if he goes through the right rehab to get fit, he's not going to be too far away from coming back in maybe March or April time as a guess. Normally it's six or seven months, he's an incredibly fit guy and he'll be a good healer.
“You don't want to bring in someone for the sake of it for £40m or £50m because you know you've got someone coming back really quickly. But if you've lost Gomez as well, you're certainly looking to get into the market and try and bring in someone in January or as quickly as you can, be it a loan, be it a signing - but it's not going to be easy to get players in.
“Your hands are tied to a certain extent because straight away, everyone knows you're desperate so the prices are going to get inflated. Liverpool have worked the market so well, they've not always bought the big stars, they've made them stars. Virgil may be the opposite, they paid £75m for him but what his fee now would be, maybe three times as much as that because he's such an incredible player.
“Defenders are at a premium because there's not many good ones around that can play like Virgil, that can defend like Joe Gomez, who is still a young man. I really hope it's weeks rather than months but I don't like the rumours that are coming out of the squad.”
The full extent of Gomez’s injury is yet to be determined, with Redknapp hoping for good news as he added: “I'm choked for Joe Gomez if it is a bad injury. He's a young man who has already had knee injuries and come back brilliantly. I'm a big fan of his, he seems like a really good, down to earth player.
“From an England point of view, it's a disappointment for Gareth Southgate, but for Jurgen Klopp, if this is a long-term one and you've got no Virgil, no Joe Gomez, that puts an enormous amount of stress on this squad from a team that were red-hot favourites at the start of the year.
“It's certainly going to change things and for everybody else involved, that back two have been so impressive at times. It's not been easy with no Virgil at the moment, but no Virgil and no Gomez is going to make it even more difficult.”