Jurgen Klopp may have been listening when Jamie Carragher was dishing out transfer advice for Liverpool at the tail-end of last year.
The Reds icon was speaking in October of 2021 when he revealed that he feared for his former side's level of depth and mentioned how unlikely it is that any side goes through an entire campaign unscathed from injury problems. "In terms of the 11, if you saw Liverpool’s 11, if they were playing Man City’s best team in a Champions League final or an FA Cup final - I’d still fancy Liverpool," he told Sky Sports.
"Over the season, you won’t be getting that first 11, Trent [Alexander-Arnold] missed out against City and you saw the problems James Milner had. It’s not so much that Liverpool don’t have a great squad, they do, they’re just really short in probably two areas. Right back is a massive one as we saw against City, they’ve probably got the best set of centre-backs in the Premier League.
"The front players you’ve got Jota to add to Firmino, although that looks like a fight for a position. I do think they’re an attacker short to go and win the league."
As the history books will show, Carragher was ultimately correct as it was City lifting the league title on a dramatic final day. The fine margins in which the title was won and lost would suggest that Liverpool do not need to cover much ground to go one better next time.
They could be aided in their efforts by the fact they have followed Carragher's transfer advice exactly as ordered.
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A back-up right-back has been found in the form of Scottish teenager Calvin Ramsey, who swapped Aberdeen for Anfield earlier this month. But the real marquee arrival came with the new attacker Carragher so desperately wanted: Club record signing Darwin Nunez.
Purchased from Benfica for a fee that will potentially hit just over £80million, Nunez has been signed to help the Reds go one better next term and get the better of City in their inevitable title battle in 2022-23.
The Anfield faithful already know what the young Uruguayan can do after his goal-scoring exploits against Liverpool in last season's Champions League. The two teams met at the quarter-final stage, with Nunez bagging a goal in each of the two legs.
Adel Taraabt, a teammate of Nunez's at Benfica, revealed it was during that meeting at Anfield that Klopp appeared to make the first move and approach the striker directly.
"He [Nunez] was fantastic in those two games. In the second leg, when he scored, [Klopp came up to him and said 'What a player'," Taraabt explained. " Liverpool had already come to get Luis Diaz from FC Porto, you can see how good he was."
