The January window has been open for five days and Liverpool have signed Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven. An attractive forward who is likely to make his first-team debut against Wolverhampton in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Throughout the summer, autumn and now winter, there has been a lot of talk about the Reds’ shortcomings in midfield, and after Liverpool’s defeat to Brentford on Monday, those discussions are heating up again. This fall, Jürgen Klopp’s team fought tooth and nail with an opponent who was able to break through the midfield, encounter a very high defensive line and get big chances.

Jamie Carragher is clear that what Liverpool lack the most is a midfielder who can provide more protection to the back four. He thinks more is needed for this team than what Jude Bellingham is doing right now.

– People keep talking about Bellingham. There’s another good reason, because he’s going to be one of the best young players in world football. But the way I see it, it will be just as important to sign Wijnaldum as a Bellingham type,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.

Defense that needs protection

Carragher knows what it’s like to have Javier Mascherano in front of him on the pitch, and when Gini Wijnaldum played for the club between 2016 and 2021 it was he who provided that defense with that protection. He only had injury problems after leaving the club, because during his time on Merseyside he was always available and did a very important job.

– The kind of players who, with Fabinho, can really defend a back four and stop players from being able to run against those defences. It doesn’t matter how good you are as a defender – if you don’t have any protection in front of you then it becomes very, very difficult, said Carragher.

– I’m back to the best centre-back I’ve ever seen in my life, and that’s Franco Baresi. But he has an excellent midfield ahead of him, with Carlo Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard and those working up front. It doesn’t matter how good you are as a centre-back, you need protection. If you don’t have protection, you don’t stand a chance, he said.

The topic in the case is discussed in the final episode of The Kopite Podcast. Listen to the episode below, or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Torbjørn Flatin had this to say on the podcast:

– If you look at the teams that won the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020, we have a midfield core with Fabinho, Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum. Now unfortunately Henderson is not the same as I feel, longer between every time he has dominated midfield and a bit slower. I hate to talk about players who have left, but we need Wijnaldum’s type. Fabinho is very good as a shield in midfield, but not a box-to-box player. Thiago is an excellent player, but he’s not an athlete either, so the two of them aren’t the ideal combination either, as they lack quite a bit of energy. Then you need a third person who can shake things up a bit, says Flatin.

– Need three new ones

Carragher believes Liverpool need three midfielders, and that will be expensive.

– Liverpool have to spend big in the summer. You can think about what Chelsea and Manchester United spent last summer and they are far from winning the league title. It shows what funding is needed to compete at the top, he said.

– Liverpool have had years of selling someone here and buying someone there but I believe it has now reached the point where Liverpool have to spend £200 million. I’m not saying it’s the key to success, because there are a lot of teams that have spent a lot of money without working, but I would say that they need three midfielders, he continued.

He pointed to everyone who was on their way out, and who needed to be replaced.

– All three can’t be bought so they can play all the time, but Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s contracts are up. So is James Milner, and at his age, Thiago is quite injured. You have Jordan Henderson and Fabinho – I mean Liverpool need to buy three midfielders. If you want real quality then you’re talking about £40-50 million at least for that type of player.

He believes that at least one club is needed to meet the minimum requirements for next season’s Champions League matches.

– How could this happen? That Liverpool didn’t buy a midfielder last summer? Liverpool have bought Gakpo now. If Liverpool think they can get into the top four without buying a midfielder in this window… They have no chance, says the Sky Sports pundit.

This winter, Liverpool have been linked with Jude Bellingham, but that seems unrealistic until the summer. The name Enzo Fernandez has been popping up a lot, but he looks set to become the world’s most expensive midfielder of all time and is on his way to Chelsea. Sofiyan Amrabat was a hot name during the World Cup, but seems to have died, and Brighton’s Moises Caicedo has been quiet recently. The man most talked about is Wolverhampton’s Matheus Nunes, but he has played for Sporting and Wolves this season, and is unlikely to play for another club until the summer.