Liverpool are in need of a forward this summer. We lack competition and depth in the final third and we need to find a solution. Liverpool may have dropped a transfer hint by playing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as a striker this week.
Calls for a striker
Plenty of Kopites think now is the time to move for a striker.
The Reds were lacklustre in front of goal from January onwards last season.
The attack looked fatigued and figured out.
Furthermore, the lack of competition for places can lead to a dangerous complacency in the front line.
There is a belief that now is the time to bring in an out and out striker, a natural finisher to provide something different to Roberto Firmino’s more creatively focused role.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at striker
In August 2017 Liverpool paid £35m to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal.
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The Ox was an instant hit at Anfield, in North London he’d been moved from pillar to post position-wise but Jürgen Klopp deployed him in his favoured centre midfield role.
He was a great success until his career was tragically upended by a serious knee injury sustained against Roma.
He appears to be back to full fitness and ready to challenge for a starting berth again.
This week he appeared as a striker in the Reds’ friendly against Stuttgart.
Transfer hint?
The use of The Ox as a striker could be a hint at the Reds’ transfer plans for the summer.
If Jürgen Klopp thinks that the ex-Arsenal man can provide cover and competition for Bobby then we may not move for a striker.
Instead the emphasis could be on bringing in a midfielder and a winger.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Kopites would be a bit concerned about the decision to anoint The Ox as our backup striker.
We’ve pleaded for investment and repurposing a chronically injured midfielder is a cop out.
Hopefully this was an experiment out of necessity as opposed to the solution to our woes in the final third.
