Liverpool were perhaps the busiest of the 20 Premier League clubs in the summer transfer window, bringing in eight new faces, such as Simon Mignolet, Kolo Toure, Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto. These investments appeared to have been paying off until recently, with the Reds fighting it out with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea for first place in the table. However, last weekend's defeat to the former put into stark reality the need for further investment in January, as Brendan Rodgers' side were played off the park by the Gunners. Rodgers himself admitted yesterday the need for new recruits if his side are to finally crack the top four and qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2009-10, and hinted at as many as two new arrivals. The Northern Irishman said:
The Arsenal game was another indication that we need to keep improving our team in order to be able to compete. The focus is on bringing in players that can come straight in and improve our team. We did that last year and benefited from that. Last year we made two great signings that came in and gave us that injection of quality that we needed. We will look to do that this January if we can."
The Liverpool boss faces a battle with his own board and will have to persuade them to part with the funds necessary to make new signings a reality, with the Merseysiders stressing the need to live within their means recently. However, if he can successfully negotiate with the club's hierarchy, here, we take a look at 5 signings he should be looking at in order to bring Champions League football next season. Click "Next" to begin.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
