Dean Saunders has revealed that he feels that Liverpool will need to sell Philippe Coutinho if they want to stand a chance of winning major silverware.
The Brazilian international Coutinho had been linked with a move to Barcelona during the summer and the Catalan giants reportedly had a number of bids rejected for the player, including one that was worth £138 million.
The Reds attack has looked world class as they boast Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. Their defense however has proved to be problematic and fragilities were shown during the club’s 3-3 draw against Watford and during their 5-0 defeat against Manchester City last weekend.
Saunders has now stated his belief that if the Reds want to win trophies, they should sell Coutinho and use the money to buy new defenders.
He said, “If Liverpool want to win trophies, if they want to get to that next level, they need to improve their defence. One way around that would be to sell Coutinho next summer for £130 million and buy three new defenders and a defensive midfield player…and maybe a goalkeeper as well.
“Liverpool’s front three are already brilliant, so I’d take the money for Coutinho and that’s one way you can get the back-four better. I wonder if the manager is sitting there this morning thinking, ‘is my back-four good enough to go where I want to go with this team?’
“Would Loris Karius get in Manchester United’s team? Would Joe Gomez? Would Alberto Moreno? Would Joel Matip or Dejan Lovren or Ragnar Klaven?’
“Go through the seven best teams in Europe, none of those players are getting in those teams, so as a manager you sit there and think, ‘are they good enough, and if not what can I do about it?’”
