Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has offered his strong opinion on how the Reds have conducted themselves in the transfer market this summer after failing to secure deals for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
Who have Liverpool signed?
It all started so positively for Liverpool in the transfer market.
Having swiftly secured a deal for Brighton & Hove Albion's Alexis Mac Allister, the Reds then managed to bring in RB Leipzig's Dominik Szoboszlai after triggering the Hungarian's release clause.
After a disappointing season on the pitch, Liverpool's summer rebuild was going rather well. However, recent weeks have proved disastrous for Jurgen Klopp, with the club embarrassingly missing out on two midfielders in the space of a couple of days to Chelsea.
Read the latest Liverpool transfer news HERE…
Liverpool had looked destined to sign Lavia from Southampton, but three low-ball offers were rejected with Southampton wanting £50m or more for the Belgian. The Reds then tabled a £111m bid for Caicedo out of nowhere, but the Ecuadorian snubbed Liverpool in favour of a move to Stamford Bridge.
The Reds then went back in for Lavia offering Southampton £60m – potentially £10m above the Saints' original asking price – only to be rejected by the midfielder, who once again opted for a move to Chelsea.
Liverpool's usually canny approach in the transfer market has seemingly disappeared, much to the dismay of supporters across the world.
Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports, slammed his former club's approach in the window – labelling it as "a joke".
He said: "They need to buy someone in midfield, people know that they're desperate. I mean they put in a bid for Lavia today for £60m when they refused to pay £50m probably four or five days ago. It's been an absolute mess. It's a joke.
"The biggest problem about it is that Liverpool have known they have needed midfield reinforcements since about August last season, 12 months ago. People think I defend FSG [Fenway Sports Group] – I have no relationship with them at all. But this is not on the owners, this is on the structure of the football club.
"When you go back two years, Liverpool were the model for every team in Europe, not just the Premier League, to follow. When Liverpool were winning the league, getting to Champions League finals, what are they doing? They're not spending as much money as other teams, but they're producing these players.
"Yes, they had a great manager, but they had a guy called Michael Edwards at the top of the club in terms of a director of football, transfer committee, whatever name you want to put on them beneath him. It worked well. He left, his number two took over [Julian Ward], he was in the job six months, he then left. You have to ask the reasons why these people are actually moving on from the football club."
Carragher labelled Liverpool's inability to get deals over the line "embarrassing", with both the transfers the Reds have conducted so far having come from triggering release clauses.
The Reds have been famed for their negotiating skills in recent years, but have struggled to get deals done this summer. Liverpool supporters will simply have to sit back and hope that the club redeems itself in the final weeks of the transfer window.
Who are Liverpool signing now?
Now that Caicedo has officially joined Chelsea and Lavia's move seems a real possibility, the Reds will have to turn their attention to other transfer targets in the coming weeks.
Ideally, Liverpool would sign one or two more central midfielders – one of which can play as a number six – and a left-sided centre-back.
The Merseysiders have been linked with Khephren Thuram and Manu Kone in the past, and it is possible that they may revive their interest in the French midfield duo. Meanwhile, recent reports have touted them with a move for PSV holding midfielder Ibrahim Sangare, who reportedly has a £32m release clause in his contract.
At centre-back, the most prominent name linked with Liverpool who is still potentially on the market is Sporting CP's Goncalo Inacio, who has a £39m release clause.