Liverpool’s failure to land Virgil van Dijk in the summer transfer window has John Aldridge “worried” about their Premier League title credentials.
The Reds spent many weeks courting the Southampton centre-half, but ultimately saw the deadline pass with no deal being done.
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The general consensus was that Jurgen Klopp needed to bolster his defensive options in order to mount a sustained bid for English top-flight supremacy.
He will get another opportunity to enter the market in January, but for now he will be forced to make do with a squad that lacks quality depth in an important area of the field.
Former Reds striker Aldridge said in the Liverpool Echo of that situation: “Ideally, we wanted to see a top centre-back come in to solidify things defensively. But it didn’t happen after Southampton refused to sell Virgil van Dijk.
“Our interest in him won’t go away and there’s no reason why that deal can’t happen in January.
“Until then Klopp will have to push on with what he’s got. I am a bit worried as we don’t have much back up if either Dejan Lovren or Joel Matip get injured.
“Ragnar Klavan can do a job and Joe Gomez has huge potential but there’s no-one else who can fill in.”
Despite failing to bring in another centre-half, Liverpool have made a promising opening to their 2017-18 campaign.
The addition of Mohamed Salah in attack has made them even more potent going forward, with seven points taken from three fixtures so far to sit second in the table.
Klopp has also been able to bring England international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on board, with a £35 million deal adding him to an already well-stocked midfield department.
The Reds will return to action after the international break with a crunch clash against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.