Jamie Carragher and Stan Collymore have called for Liverpool to invest heavily in new signings after their humbling loss to Manchester City - with Tottenham's Harry Kane mooted as a potential target.
Liverpool's hopes of defending the Premier League trophy were all but extinguished by City on Sunday, as Pep Guardiola's side ran out comfortable 4-1 winners at Anfield.
On the back of that defeat, which leaves Jurgen Klopp's men 10 points adrift of City having played a game more, two former Liverpool stars have urged the club to back the German in the summer transfer market to level the playing field once again.
What was said?
"Initially, when Jurgen Klopp came in, Liverpool were a team who were sixth or seventh," one-time Reds captain Carragher told Sky Sports.
"His first summer he brought in three players – Joel Matip, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Sadio Mane. That then took them into the Champions League.
"Over the next 12 months he then brought in Mohamed Salah in the summer, Virgil van Dijk in the January and Alisson on the back of the 2018 Champions League final.
"That then took them on again, to the Champions League win and the title. I think Liverpool are back at that stage where they need those three players to come in again to give them that jolt.
"I still think they will be back but they need three players. They need a centre-back, maybe he’s joined now in Ozan Kabak, they need someone to replace Wijnaldum, and they need someone in the front three.
"I’m talking about players to come into the team like Matip, Wijnaldum, and Mane did, like Salah, Van Dijk, and Alisson. That’s what Liverpool need."
Meanwhile, ex-Liverpool striker Collymore said in The Mirror: "They do need to wake up and smell the coffee, which means owners FSG spending money to go toe-to-toe with City
"It means that if City go out and buy Erling Haaland this summer then Liverpool must buy the next Robert Lewandowski or even put in a bid for Harry Kane.
"What they can’t do is just say, ‘We have a really good XI, some youngsters coming through, and we can maintain our challenges that way’, because there are too many other teams with the money to make sure that won’t be the case."
What are the latest Liverpool transfer rumours?
Plenty of high-profile players have been linked with moves to Anfield in recent months given their status as Premier League champions, with Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe at the top of the list.
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The Reds have also been credited with an interest in Leeds winger Raphinha, who has made a big impact in England since moving to Elland Road from Rennes in October.
He has been given a big billing by Whites team-mate Patrick Bamford, who has told Sky Sports: “Raphinha is brilliant. To be honest he's been a steal for Leeds. As soon as you came into training, you know sometimes with training you notice if some players are top class.
“He really was and you noticed that he stood out straight away.
“I'm surprised that bigger teams, or more established Premier League teams I should say, haven't taken a punt on him. He's something special and the thing is, he's still young.”
However, RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate is reported to be the most likely new addition to Klopp's ranks when the market reopens, with Liverpool being tipped to see off competition from Manchester United and Chelsea for his services.
Who did Liverpool sign in January?
Despite a mounting injury crisis at the back, Liverpool waited until the end of the winter transfer window to bring in reinforcements, with Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies arriving on deadline day.
Kabak moved to Anfield from Schalke, with an option to buy included in the final deal which will allow the Reds to bring him onto their books permanently for £18 million ($25m) in June should they choose to do so.
Davies, meanwhile, signed a long-term contract with Liverpool after being snapped up from Preston for £1.5 million.
The Goal View | Neil Jones | Liverpool correspondent
It's fair to say Liverpool would have needed a couple of new additions in the summer, even if this season had gone entirely to plan.
Gini Wijnaldum, for example, will almost certainly need replacing, while we have all seen the paucity of options - reliable options - at centre-back. Factor in the age of some of Jurgen Klopp's other key players - Roberto Firmino, for example - and it's clear that, despite everything, opportunities for improvement exist.
I'd expect Liverpool to be active. Maybe Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies will prove to be solutions at centre-back, but a midfielder and a striker are simply musts.
The big question now is: can they make sure they're recruiting those players for a Champions League club? Anything else would be a catastrophe.
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