Virgil van Dijk has revealed the signing he wants Liverpool to make before the summer transfer window shuts.
The Premier League champions have spent almost £300m on new signings so far this summer, bringing the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez to Anfield.
The heavy investment has, for many pundits, made Liverpool firm favourites to retain the Premier League trophy they lifted in Arne Slot’s first season at the club.
But Liverpool were handed a slight reality check on Sunday as they were beaten by Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.
The Reds led twice through new signings Hugo Ekitike and Frimpong but Crystal Palace took the contest to penalties through Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ismaila Sarr.
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Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson then saved two penalties and saw Mohamed Salah sky his effort as the Eagles won the Community Shield for the first time.
Despite their sensational spending this summer, Liverpool remain open to completing further deals, having already failed with a £110m bid for Alexander Isak and expressing interest in Marc Guehi.
Anfield captain Van Dijk has called on Liverpool’s board to bolster the team’s attacking options following the departure of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz.
Nunez completed a £46.3m move to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal earlier in the weekend, while Diaz joined Bayern Munich last month for £65.5m.
Asked if he was hoping for more business before the transfer deadline, Van Dijk told talkSPORT: ‘Well, we just lost Darwin, he went to Saudi and we lost Lucho, obviously he went to Bayern.
‘I think there’s always room for an attacker in order to strengthen us so let’s see what the window brings in terms of the balance of the team.’
Speaking more generally about Liverpool’s Community Shield defeat, Van Dijk added: ‘Obviously we wanted to win, it’s a trophy that we were playing for.
‘There were many good things from us in the game but there’s also a lot of work to do and we need to get ready for the start of the Premier League now.’
Liverpool boss Slot is less convinced about the needs for new signings to arrive at Anfield.
‘I think we have more than more than enough options to be good enough to win the Community Shield,’ he said.
‘This is where I focus on myself. With the players we have we should be able to to win, to score.
‘My last concern at the moment is our offensive quality. It’s more… it’s not a concern, but if I look at the amount of goals we’ve conceded in pre-season that’s not of our standard.’
Asked if he wanted a new defender to arrive at the club, Slot added: ‘Now we’ve lost Jarell Quansah and that’s one thing.
‘But Unfortunately Conor Bradley, who’s a right full-back and Joe Gomez who’s a centre-back are injured. Then Ryan Gravenberch became a dad last night, he can also play really well as a centre-back.
‘But if Joe is fit and Ryan is back and Wataru [Endo] can play there and the two we started today, then we’re in a good place.
‘So I think throughout the whole pre-season, Alisson needed to go to Brazil. Virgil was sick last week now Ryan for a very nice reason for him… but we had to miss him.
‘It looks as if you lack something but if everybody is there I think we have a very strong squad.’
Liverpool kick-start their Premier League title defence on Friday night against Bournemouth.
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