Trevor Francis has claimed that Liverpool need to bring in at least one £ 30 million striker before the end of this transfer window if they are to challenge for the Premier league title. Liverpool recently brought in Ricki Lambert for around £ 4 million, as the replacement for Luis Suarez. The Uruguay striker was sold to Barcelona for £ 75 million. He was the club’s top scorer in the league last season after getting 31, which was one of the best in Europe top five leagues. This is despite the fact that he missed the first few matches of last season due to a suspension.
It is clear that replacing a player of Suarez’ ability will not be easy, but Francis says that Lambert was not in the ideal signing that the club should have signed. The former Southampton man has struggled to impress during pre-season and Francis says that the style of play at Liverpool does not seem to suit the 32-year-old. Prior to the move, Lambert was one of the reasons for Southampton staying in the league. His impressive form also led to the World Cup 2014 call-up, although the striker failed to impress in Brazil.
Francis says that Liverpool should consider signing a top-class centre forward rather than look for bargains signings.
“He would have expected more from Lambert. He will try and gloss over it in the best way possible because he wants to keep his confidence high, but this is a player who at the moment is struggling. I’ve watched him in three or four games and in one game he was taken off at half-time and today he struggled throughout. He didn’t look comfortable playing in those surroundings. He is desperate for a goal,” said the pundit after seeing Lambert in the first few pre-season matches.