Cody Gakpo's free signing as actual 'obvious' transfer moves ignored at Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool's move for Cody Gakpo was 'obvious'. Certainly not as obvious as the need for a new midfielder…

"We can't play like Monopoly. We never have and I don't understand that," Jurgen Klopp said on Liverpool's £40million signing of Cody Gakpo. "The next thing you might read is, 'who next?'"

First, asking a Premier League manager if he will make any other signings in a transfer window is a necessary and unavoidable question. There will not have been a press conference at any club in the past month where transfer whereabouts were not discussed. It would be weird not to talk about it.

Secondly, Klopp might not have had to deal with so many questions or speculation if Liverpool had spent the £40m more wisely. You play Monopoly, Jurgen - but not very well.

"With Cody, it's obvious," Klopp added. “Not only because we have this void [on the left] now, the quality that it has, the timing is perfect – if we waited until the summer it would be more expensive or someone else l would have chosen."

We suspect very few outsiders thought a move for Gakpo was 'obvious'. Apparently destined for Manchester United, the Dutchman has instead joined Liverpool, where he will fight with five other very good attackers for three positions in the team.

It's a very privileged position, but it doesn't reflect the fragility of the team as a whole. Having two excellent options per position in attack suggests that Liverpool are operating in the ideal world that Klopp struggles to tell us (and he is right) that they are not.

Liverpool's attack compares very favorably to that of their rivals - there is an argument that they have the most quality and depth in the front areas in the Premier League. Then you look at the midfield. Would Manchester United, Manchester City or Arsenal swap theirs for Liverpool's? No chance.

While Klopp and his transfer team have done a terrific job of reorganizing their attack over the past few windows, often at times when it didn't seem necessary, the midfielder was oddly overlooked. It is for this reason that Gakpo feels like it is being overdone, with the "obvious" problem ignored.

Liverpool have scored 58 goals in 27 games this season despite injuries to Luis Diaz, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota, and with Darwin Nunez stepping out of his shooting boots in Portugal. The attackers are not the problem. And in a few months, when all these talented strikers are back in shape and chomping at the bit, Liverpool will continue to march with an unsuitable midfield.

Gakpo may prove too good to fail, but signing a striker on loan and spending £40m on a central midfielder feels like it would have been a better bet for Liverpool.

They have signed four of their six first-team forwards in the past four and a half years and only Thiago in central midfield. And that neglect will look particularly foolish in mid-April as they battle for the top four with Fabinho and Naby Keita ailing while three of Gakpo, Firmino, Diaz, Jota, Mohamed Salah and Nunez watch from the bench.

Reports, along with their apparent lack of funds, suggest they will wait until the summer to sign a midfielder. But Jude Bellingham will not join Liverpool unless they are in the Champions League, and their performances against Brentford and Wolves, in which their midfield was overwhelmed and ineffective both in and against the press, suggest that they will really struggle to qualify with the options Klopp currently has at his disposal.

Even if they are in the top four and spend £130m on Bellingham, where is the £100m they will need for two more midfielders? It's almost as if the task of rebuilding the midfield is now too big or too obvious a requirement.

‘Of course we need three midfielders, but look, here comes another striker. You didn't expect that, did you? No Liverpool, we weren't.