Liverpool implored to sign Harry Kane by former Anfield star

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Former Liverpool forward Stan Collymore believes that the club need to make a statement signing like Harry Kane in order to compete with Man City again.

The Reds won the Premier League for the first time in their history and their first top division title in 30 years in the 2019/20 season, and in emphatic fashion too as they finished 18 points clear of nearest rivals City.

Their title defence has been disappointing, however, as they are currently down in fourth in the table, 10 points adrift of Man City, who also have a game in hand.

At the weekend, the two teams met at Anfield, with Man City humbling Liverpool with a 4-1 away victory.

Following that result, conversations generated about what Liverpool must do to bridge the performance gap to City again, like they did over the past couple of years.

Collymore believes the club need to open their chequebook and make a marquee centre-forward signing this summer.

“They do need to wake up and smell the coffee, which means owners FSG spending money to go toe-to-toe with City,” he said in  The Mirror.

“It means that if City go out and buy Erling Haaland this summer then Liverpool must buy the next Robert Lewandowski or even put in a bid for Harry Kane.”

Collymore reckons that Liverpool have perhaps been a bit naive to think that they can keep up their level of performance from last season without significant investment, as the Premier League has clubs who will spend money to catch up with them.

“What they can’t do is just say, ‘We have a really good XI, some youngsters coming through, and we can maintain our challenges that way’, because there are too many other teams with the money to make sure that won’t be the case,” he added.

Though Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane regularly chip in with the goals, starting centre-forward Roberto Firmino has been criticised for his lack of goalscoring exploits this season. In 21 starts so far in the Premier League, he has netted on just six occasions.

Another former Liverpool striker, Djibril Cisse, previously pleaded with the Reds to sign PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe.