‘Chill out’ – Stan Collymore has a message for Liverpool fans over quiet summer transfer window
Stan Collymore has urged Liverpool fans not to get worked up over the lack of signings at Anfield going into the final week of the summer transfer window.
The Reds have yet to bring in any new recruits since Arne Slot took charge on 1 June, although a deal for Giorgi Mamardashvili is understood to be close to fruition (Fabrizio Romano).
In his latest column for CaughtOffside, the ex-LFC striker feels that the Dutchman already has a strong enough squad to contend near the top of the Premier League this season and that only a supplementary top-up is needed to the existing playing pool.
Collymore wrote: “The question I’d put to Liverpool fans is, yes, ordinarily, you’d have at least two that would come in to freshen the team up and to create competition for places, but with a squad of 20 plus an academy that’s producing players that can get into the first team squad, why do you think the need to buy more players is still so great?
“Look at what Manchester City do. They bring in a couple and they let a couple go, but there’s always an improvement of personnel, not buying for the sake of it. I think that Arne Slot has come in and he’s assessed what he’s got, and then gone to the board with a shopping list.”
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The columnist added: “Liverpool’s second half at Ipswich was as good as any performance that you’ll have seen over the past weekend, so there was obviously a lot of confidence in the camp and perhaps they just don’t feel the need to change things a hell of a lot.
“I’d say to Liverpool fans ‘don’t panic.’ There are players that are not needed arguably until the January transfer window, when the squad might need a little bit of help.
“Chill out, the big cavalry is already there. The captains, the lieutenants, the generals, are already in the team, and even if one or two infantry are required to help them get across the line, the last days of the window or even in the January transfer window is just fine.”
It’s fair to state that Liverpool currently have one of the strongest squads in the Premier League, and that Manchester City and Arsenal – the two teams who finished ahead of us last season – haven’t exactly been cavalier in the market this summer.
As frustrating as the Reds’ conservative transfer approach can be, it’s still preferable to Chelsea’s version of throwing darts blindfolded and seeing where they land.
However, the worry for many LFC fans isn’t as much the quality as the quantity, if we’re to see a repeat of the injury crisis which decimated our squad in the first few months of 2024.
Slot has the luxury of a full squad available to him now, but it’s inevitable that a few players will fall by the wayside with knocks as the season progresses and the fixture list intensifies. That’s when the depth of our current crop will be truly tested, especially in positions such as attack and central defence.
Collymore is right in saying that Liverpool don’t need to splurge massively in the final week of the transfer window, but supporters’ fears over the inactivity up to now are very much understandable. It’ll still take a couple of additons in the next few days to properly soothe the nerves among much of the fan base.
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