iSport | For the Fans, by the Fans

The Premier league season is over and now its time to dig deep into the pots of money that clubs might have and see what kind of moolah they are willing to dole out to get the best players at their respective clubs. iSporter and Liverpool fan Chirag Mansukhani presents his wishlist for the summer.

Having said that all the clubs do not have pots of money lying around and so smart spending would be the order of the day. My favourite team is Liverpool and I have an amazing summer wish list to say the least. However, there has to be a line between dreams and reality and everything I wish for will certainly not come true.

While Liverpool will definitely find it difficult to dole out a lot of cash; they would certainly have to make some good buys in the transfer market if they are looking to challenge for the title as well as keep their stars such as the likes of Torres and Gerrard at the club.

I certainly feel that Liverpool are missing a striker. They only have Fernando Torres and the fortunes of Liverpool depend on the fitness of this striker. Every time he gets injured or misses a match Liverpool immediately feel the pinch. First of all, it is tremendous responsibility and pressure on one man’s shoulders. Liverpool certainly need another striker that can support Torres. The perfect person to partner Torres upfront would be David Villa. It would certainly be a dream come true. How feasible this is for Liverpool I do not know but he is certainly the man for the job and No.1 on my shopping list for sure. There is no one better in my mind to partner Torres up front. However, the truth remains that reality bites and Liverpool may well not be able to afford the Spanish striker.

If rumours are to be believed Pavlyuchenko could well be on his way to Liverpool from Spurs in a move that could see Yossi Benayoun move the other way. How smart this is I do not know as Benayoun has been a tremendous influence since his arrival at the club and if he is to leave he will certainly be missed. Pavlyuchenko is a decent striker and if he finds his form, he could well prove to be a good buy for Liverpool. It could also be smart to pursue the likes of Van Nistelrooy or Santacruz. They could also try to lure Henry from Barcelona.

We also definitely need someone to fill the shoes of Xabi Alonso. Aquilani has certainly not been able to live up to expectations. Some may say he hasn’t yet been given enough of an opportunity to prove himself but he certainly doesn’t seem to have settled in the English game just yet. A good replacement may come in the form of Marcos Senna or Capdevila.

As far as defenders go, in my opinion we have a decent lot of defenders so long as they are fit. We have to make sure they all stay at the club. Insua and Johnson at left back and right back are good with Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Skrtel and Agger in central defense. If we do keep Aurelio that will give us another left back option which is where I like him. In the past Rafa has also played him as a left winger. So as long as our players are fit I think our defense is solid. We can do with another right back in case Johnson suffers from injury.

Reina is splendid between the sticks so I hope there are certainly no changes there. We do need a quality left winger. I like Albert Rieira though he seems to have fallen out of favour with Rafa and Babel has certainly not lived up to expectations. Again a dream signing would be Ribery from Bayern but that would be highly unlikely as he would cost at least double of what the Anfield club would be looking to pay. A smart buy would be Lee Bowyer from Birmingham as he can fit in to the role of left winger. Jamie O’ Hara could also be bought from Portsmouth to strengthen the midfield. Keiron Richardson from Sunderland may be a good buy.

All in all, Liverpool should be looking to buy one quality striker, a good left winger and maybe some decent midfield options. If you do take a good look at the squad we have it is quite a good one. In my opinion what went wrong was the way we pursued games by not attacking enough. But that is a different story altogether.

Goalkeeper

Reina is the best between the sticks in my opinion. A good replacement when required would be Kasper Schmeical.

* In all likelihood Rafael Benitez would still be coaching the Anfield club come next season.

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