Jamie Carragher explains Liverpool’s need for midfield reinforcements

Liverpool great Jamie Carragher believes his former side were outplayed in midfield during the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid on Saturday. The match will be most remembered for Loris Karius’ wretched showing between the sticks but Carragher feels there remains a weakness in the centre of the park.

Speaking shortly after the game, Carragher admitted that the midfield needs to be sorted during the summer transfer window, although the arrival of Naby Keita should bring more quality in the position, he said: “Going forward I certainly think the midfield needs looking at. That will change, with Keita coming in.I think we lacked something in midfield [against Real Madrid] I’d say.

“We got to the Champions League final with that midfield three of [Gini] Wijnaldum, [James] Milner, [Jordan] Henderson, they’ve been absolutely superb - but they’re workaholics.The class of Real Madrid in the centre of midfield with Kroos and Modric told really.We didn’t have a player who could match them on the ball.”

Liverpool reached a pre-agreement to sign Keita from RB Leipzig during the previous summer transfer window and the Guinea international is expected to join the Reds in the next few weeks. Despite this, the Reds are supposedly keen on pursuing another midfielder in the transfer window with Emre Can heading through the Anfield exit door.

The German has been in a contract standoff with the Reds over the past year and he is widely expected to leave the Merseyside outfit when his contract expires next month. No clear choices has been identified as of yet but there has been the talk of Nabil Fekir playing in a deeper central attacking role for the Reds, should he join them from Lyon. The France international recently helped Lyon seal their return to Champions League football following their final day victory over Nice.