Carragher admits he is 'baffled' by Liverpool signing

Stuart Telford

• 11 Feb 2023 15:28 GMT
• 3 min read

Liverpool got off to their worst ever Premier League start under Jurgen Klopp this season and former captain Jamie Carragher has admitted he is "baffled" by some of the Reds' transfer business.

Liverpool lost Sadio Mane in a €41 million transfer to Bayern Munich last summer, whilst they brought in Darwin Nunez from Benfica for a fee which could reach €100m.

Whilst the latter was not a like-for-like replacement for the latter, he was expected to have returned more than five goals in 15 Premier League outings for that outlay.

READ: Darwin Nunez 'suffering from stage fright' at Liverpool

The Reds looked to have pulled off a coup when they beat Manchester United to Cody Gakpo's signature in the January transfer window, but the Dutchman has failed to recreate his PSV Eindhoven form since arriving at Anfield for his €41. fee.

Carragher 'baffled watching Gakpo'

"In attack, [Luis] Diaz started his Liverpool career brilliantly but Nunez is a work in progress, and I am baffled watching Gakpo's early performances," Carragher wrote in his Telegraph column.

"Gakpo is not a typical Klopp signing, lacking lightning pace and the capacity to lead a high press. Why commit up to £45million on someone who will be on the bench when Diaz and Diogo Jota are fit? Especially when another area of the team needed strengthening?"

READ: Cody Gakpo: Netherlands boss worries for Liverpool signing

Gakpo plundered 13 goals and 17 assists at a rate of one every 65 minutes he played for PSV this season, but he is yet to get off the mark for Liverpool after six outings in all competitions.

Carragher, and many others, have highlighted Liverpool's need for a central midfielder with Thiago, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all injured this season with Jordan Henderson and James Milner 32 and 37 respectively.

Jude Bellingham is Jurgen Klopp's top transfer target next summer - and his father Mark was reportedly in talks with the club this winter - but failure to qualify for next season's Champions League could play into Real Madrid's or Manchester City's hands.