“I don’t agree…” – Jamie Carragher disputes Liverpool transfer perception in deadline day verdict | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher has taken a philosophical stance on Liverpool missing out on Marc Guehi on transfer deadline day.

The Reds had agreed a £35m deal with Crystal Palace for the defender, only for the Eagles to later pull the plug on the move as Oliver Glasner felt they hadn’t adequately replaced their captain.

Thanfully, that disappointment for Kopites was soon usurped by the long-awaited deliverance on the British record £125m signing of Alexander Isak from Newcastle.

Carragher claims Liverpool needed Isak more than Guehi

Debate has raged among Liverpool supporters as to which of those two players was needed more urgently at Anfield, but Carragher feels that FSG ultimately got their priorities right.

Speaking to Sky Sports on Tuesday morning, the former Reds defender said: “There was a lot of talk over the summer, or certainly over the last couple of weeks, saying that Marc Guehi was actually more important than bringing Isak in. I don’t agree with that at all, actually.

“Liverpool only had one centre-forward, so they needed to buy a striker. There was no doubt that Liverpool had to bring in a striker, whether it was Isak or not.

Image via Liverpool FC on YouTube

“Liverpool have numbers at centre-back; it’s just whether they have the quality. What Liverpool have had in the last year, and will have until at least Christmas, is no real competition for the first-choice centre-backs in Konate and Van Dijk. They have two backup players in Joe Gomez and young Leoni.”

Carragher added: “Liverpool still need a centre-back, but it wasn’t as imperative as getting in a striker. That was far more important, because there’s no way Hugo Ekitike could’ve led the line for Liverpool alone between now and Christmas.”

Liverpool seem to have good balance to their squad

The ideal scenario for any manager is to have one player in reserve for everyone in the starting XI, and Liverpool now have that after getting Isak through the door. With Arne Slot now able to call upon four centre-backs and two strikers in his senior squad, the balance would appear to be right numerically.

The worry for some Reds fans was (and might still be) that, if either Van Dijk or Konate were to be unavailable for a lengthy period, Gomez and Leoni would struggle to step up, given that the former has barely played this year and the latter is an 18-year-old who’s yet to make his LFC debut.

(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Such fears were somewhat alleviated on Sunday when our long-serving number 2 came off the bench for the stricken Frenchman and, in just 15 minutes on the pitch, put in a Herculean effort as the Premier League champions landed a huge psychological blow by beating Arsenal.

As Carragher says, and as Lewis Steele outlined late last night, Liverpool could potentially go back in for Guehi in January if they feel a need to do so. Should our current first-choice partnership continue to excel until then, any regrets over the Palace defender’s move collapsing will soon subside.

At the other end of the pitch, Slot now has two top-class centre-forwards in Isak and Ekitike, along with prolific wingers in Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah and an outstanding number 10 in Florian Wirtz. When they’re all available, it’s a level of depth which’ll be the envy of his top-flight peers.

As the dust settles on a frantic transfer deadline day, Reds fans can feel more than satisfied at the make-up of the squad following a hugely eventful summer of ins and outs at Anfield.