Brendan Rodgers believes his first Liverpool signings are imminent. Surely a striker will be on his shopping list?
Luis Suarez and Craig Bellamy have both been called into the Olympic squads, leaving Andy Carroll to lead the line in pre-season.
He will have to be get up to speed fast, after his Euro 2012 exploits, and belated summer holiday.
Suarez and Bellamy will actually face off against each other, when Uruguay take on Great Britain. The competitive nature of the matches, as opposed to pre-season games, will leave both players more exposed to injury, and if Suarez picked one up and missed the start of the season, it would become a major headache for Brendan Rodgers.
Carroll himself will have to be looked after well by Liverpool’s coaching staff, while it could mean opportunities in pre-season for young forward Adam Morgan to make a name for himself.
What the duo’s call-up does do is highlight how light Liverpool are in attack, and last season Bellamy was often deployed on the wing rather than up front.
The club’s goal tally last season was poor, they scored just 47. To put that in context Lionel Messi scored 50 league goals alone for Barcelona.
Signing a striker should be a priority for the club, and they have been linked with several this summer. Reported targets Jackson Martinez and Lacina Traore have all signed elsewhere with Porto, and Anzhi Makhachala, while they appear to have dropped out of the running for Burak Yilmaz who appears to be heading for Russia.
Daniel Sturridge is another who has been linked, he will also play at the Olympics and has been struck by a virus, with Tottenham overtaking the Reds as likely suitors.
A striker they are reported to be closing in on is the talented Fabio Borini, who played under Rodgers on loan at Swansea City. The BBC has reported the attacker could be Rodgers’ first signing, with the Roma man expected to cost around £8 million.
If he signs, he would be a shrewd acquisition, an Italy international with experience of playing in English football, spending his youth days with Chelsea. At 21 his potential is huge and Liverpool would go a long way to solving their goalscoring problem.
If the signing is not Borini, then midfielder Gaston Ramirez is a name strongly linked. The talented Uruguayan would add a creative energy to the Liverpool team.
Borini or no Borini, Liverpool need a striker, and Brendan Rodgers will want to get his man in as soon as possible. The club have a tough start to the season and need to hit the ground running. The loss of Suarez particularly to their pre-season is a blow, but it may just accelerate the need to get the deals done as quickly as possible.
Who is the ‘close signing’ Rodgers is talking about? Borini?
image: © Sanjiva
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