Steven Gerrard has urged Liverpool to sign a new midfielder after their defeat to and believes they need to ease the goalscoring burden on their attackers.
The Merseysiders were on top for much of Saturday night’s match in Paris and attempted 24 shots on goal but were denied by an inspired performance from Man of the Match Thibaut Courtois.
Real improved in the second half and always carried a threat on the break, with the game’s decisive moment coming on the hour-mark when Federico Valverde’s driven cross found Vinicius Junior at the back post, who fired home.
Liverpool mustered few clear-cut chances after going behind, though Courtois produced a superb save to deny Salah late on.
Arguably the best opportunity of the night fell to Naby Keita just inside the box, but he sent a rash volley attempt sailing high and wide of the goal.
Gerrard, who was at the Stade de France, felt the lack of a goalscoring midfielder ultimately hindered Liverpool and believes they must sign a No.8 who can hit double figures if they want to improve the team.
Speaking to BT Sport after the game, the Aston Villa boss said: ‘Jordan and James Milner are not getting any younger.
‘They’re still top players at this level, of course, and they’ll want to go on and do more.
‘But for Liverpool, if you think about the next five, six, seven years, they’re going to need a midfielder, an eight, who can get goals, who can get double figures.
‘They are heavily reliant on the front three – or the front five if you include Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino.
‘But you always need one of those midfielders that’s going to get in the box and get you goals.’
Liverpool appear to be on the same wavelength as Gerrard and have made a new midfielder their top transfer priority this window.
While rumoured target Monaco’s Aurelien Tchouameni is a little more defence-minded, Borussia Dortmund’s teenage midfielder star Jude Bellingham could be just the player they need.
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