Jamie Carragher urges Jurgen Klopp to ‘move on’ another long-serving Liverpool star this summer

Jamie Carragher has urged Jurgen Klopp should allow a senior Liverpool star to depart the club this summer, and stressed where the side need to strengthen when the transfer window opens.

After multiple seasons of being the only side capable of challenging Man City’s domestic supremacy, Liverpool fell short of the heights they have achieved under Klopp in 2022-23.

Despite closing out the season with an eleven-game unbeaten streak, the Reds’ inconsistent form earlier in the campaign saw them miss out on Champions League qualification for the first time in seven years.

Klopp admitted in February that his side were in need of a rebuild, and the club have taken the initiative already, with Brighton’s World Cup-winning midfielder Alexis Mac Allister poised to make the move to Anfield this summer. 

A number of players that were integral to the club’s successes in recent years are also due to depart, with Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita all departing when their contracts come to an end.

Jamie Carragher has insisted Liverpool should allow a senior player to leave this summer as the club prepares for a rebuild

Jurgen Klopp has already began looking to strengthen his side this summer, with Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister a top target

Carragher stressed that club are in need of defensive reinforcements, and moving on players approaching the final year of their deal at club such as Joel Matip could help expedite the team’s defensive revamp.

‘I look at the defence and I think Joel Matip now has got a year to go.’ Carragher told Redmen Plus.

‘If you got £10million, whatever the price may be, it’s probably right to move on.

‘I do think we need a left-sided defender, a left-footed centre-back. A lot of teams have them, we don’t. A left-sided player would add something. 

‘Rather than getting a left-back because I don’t think we will, if we are going to continue with this formation now, (it should be) buying someone in that area, a centre-back who can do the full-back role. 

Carragher added that Joel Matip should be allowed to depart so the club can invest in a left-sided centre-back

‘I definitely think a left-sided centre-back who can do that left-back job.’

Matip joined Liverpool in the summer of 2016, after seven seasons with Schalke where he was part of Ralf Rangnick’s side that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and won the DFB-Pokal in 2011.

The former Cameroon international was plagued by injuries in Liverpool’s Premier League-winning campaign in 2019-20 but played a significant role in the club’s Champions League triumph the season before, assisting Divock Origi’s winner in the final.