Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has called on the club to sign a defensive midfielder before the transfer window closes on Tuesday. The summer trading period officially comes to a close at 11pm on September 1, and the Reds are currently looking to add two wingers to their ranks, with another being pursued after Bradley Barcola's imminent move from Paris Saint-Germain.
Gerrard's midfield plea
Barcola will undergo a medical this weekend ahead of a £123m switch from the Champions League holders, and Liverpool have also made checks on Real Madrid's Endrick and Ismaila Sarr of Crystal Palace alongside two rejected bids for Brighton's Yankuba Minteh at £50m and £60m. Iconic former captain Gerrard, though, thinks a midfielder is needed to give Andoni Iraola the best chance of improving on last season's disappointing fifth-place finish.
"There's one area that hasn't really had much focus," Gerrard told TNT Sports. "Only really in the last week since the Newcastle (United) game. I believe they need a specialist in the No. 6 position, that's my opinion.
Missed 'destroyer' role
"Now, the manager might have different ideas in terms of how he wants the team to look and his philosophy. But I think this team has missed a destroyer, someone who holds the middle of the pitch, who is a massive part of the spine since the team moved Fabinho on. I think that position's been sorely missed, I don't think they've got a specialist in that position."
Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday, which followed their opening-weekend 2-2 draw at Newcastle. The Reds head to newly promoted Ipswich Town on Friday, September 4, where Barcola could make his debut.
Iraola's transfer update
"I cannot tell you anything right now but it is true that there are things going on and that is normal," Iraola said when asked about Barcola after the draw with Forest. "We are in the last weeks of the market and now we have to wait to see the squad that we will have on September 2, and this is who we are. We will then work with certainties. Now everything is quite uncertain and same for every team. But this is how the competition works. So now wait just some more days and we work with what we have after the market closes."
