Liverpool legend John Barnes warns Jurgen Klopp against making any more January transfers

John Barnes has warned Jurgen Klopp over signing any more players in January despite Liverpool’s struggles this season.

Many were expecting Liverpool to splash the cash this transfer window on a new midfielder, with the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice linked with Anfield.

But so far, Klopp has made just one signing – the £37million capture of PSV forward Cody Gakpo.

However, their form has barely improved since the end of the World Cup break, with the Reds suffering poor defeats at Brentford and Brighton and drawing at home to struggling Wolves in the FA Cup.

And while they did manage to win the replay at Molineux on Tuesday night, the club are in serious danger of missing out on qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in seven years, with Liverpool currently languishing down in ninth in the table, 10 points off the top four.

Some fans have pleaded for January reinforcements but Barnes does not believe that will help matters, telling BonusCodeBets: ‘Liverpool have a lot of good players injured, but the solution to problems are not just buying new players.

‘If you have five players injured on multi-year contracts, buying new players to replace them will then become second fiddle once the main players return from injury.

‘I’m not a fan of the January transfer window because you’re not able to sign better players than what you have usually, and you end up spending £100 million on three or four players that don’t make you better overall.’

Barnes also warned his former club not to spend huge amounts on any player, even if they are very highly-rated, citing the recent example of Arsenal’s failed pursuit of new Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk.

‘If someone else is prepared to pay £100, £200 or £300 million for Enzo Fernandes, Jude Bellingham or Declan Rice, then Liverpool can’t match those prices,’ the ex-winger added.

‘Every club has their own valuation of a player, if one club is willing to go higher, then any club can either match the price but it depends on their valuation of the player.

‘Mykhailo Mudryk was more valuable to Chelsea than he was to Arsenal which is why Chelsea ended up spending more money and buying him. Arsenal did the right thing because they stuck to their valuation.’

Liverpool will be looking for their first league win of the year on Saturday when they host Chelsea, with the £88.5m Mudryk expected to make his debut.

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