John Barnes warns Liverpool FC about signing Virgil van Dijk cover in January
John Barnes warns Liverpool FC about the perils of signing players in the January transfer window
John Barnes has expressed his concerns about Liverpool FC signing cover for Virgil van Dijk in the January transfer window.
The defending Premier League champions are being tipped to sign some new centre-halves in the upcoming transfer window given that Jurgen Klopp is contending with a defensive crisis at the back.
Van Dijk suffered a season-ending knee injury in Liverpool FC’s 2-2 draw with Everton in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park back in October.
Fabinho initially partnered Joe Gomez in the absence of Van Dijk before the versatile Brazil international succumbed to a hamstring problem.
Klopp suffered a further blow this week after Gomez suffered a patellar tendon injury during England training to rule the 23-year-old out of action for a number of months.
The England defender underwent a knee operation to leave Joel Matip as Klopp’s only senior centre-half, although the former Cameroon international has struggled with fitness issues over the past few seasons.
Unsurprisingly, Liverpool FC have been linked with a host of big-name centre-halves since Van Dijk’s injury blow, including Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano and Ajax’s Perr Schuurs.
Former Liverpool FC skipper Barnes warned the Premier League champions about the perils of January signings.
“I’m not a fan of buying players in January, as the best options are often in the Champions League and won’t leave their current clubs,” Barnes told PlayOjo, as quoted by the Daily Mirror.
“What you can do is just get a player to be a stop-gap until Virgil comes back for next season.
“So, if you can get someone to improve you, yes, but if not, I’m not a big January signing person.”
Liverpool FC signed Wolves forward Diogo Jota, Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara and Olympiacos full-back Konstantinos Tsimikas in the 2020 summer transfer window.
The Merseyside outfit will take on Premier League leaders Leicester City at Anfield next Saturday.
