The Reds have spent more than £625m on new signings since May 2025, with three £100m+ arrivals in Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola, but none of the new arrivals fit the mould of a natural defensive midfielder.
The partnership of Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch as a double pivot worked wonders in the title-winning 2024/25 campaign but was far less successful last season, and Andoni Iraola has discontinued that tactic since replacing Arne Slot.
Gerrard: Liverpool still lack a midfield ‘powerhouse’
With 16 goals conceded in their first dozen matches this term, Gerrard feels that Liverpool still need to sign a top-class number 6 to lock down the middle third and give our other midfielders more licence to roam further up the pitch.
The former Reds captain said on The Overlap Daily: “I still think, moving forward – and Iraola might disagree and some Liverpool fans might disagree – Liverpool miss a real strong powerhouse in the middle of the team. Someone who holds the middle of the team and stops people playing through them and puts a lot of fires out, like a Fabinho, for example. A Didi Hamann.
“I played with that type, who worry about the other side of the game. When everyone’s thinking attack, or let’s go and create and be obsessed with scoring, you have a clever one in the team, like a Rodri, who goes: ‘No, no. If this goes wrong or the ball turns over, we need to fix a different problem. I think Liverpool lack that. Mac Allister’s good, but I don’t think he’s top at that.”
Who could be Liverpool’s next Fabinho or Hamann?
There was plenty of clamour from Reds fans over the summer to sign a true defensive midfielder, especially after the sale of Curtis Jones to Inter Milan, but the Anfield hierarchy didn’t bow to the tidal wave of opinion.
The emergence of Trey Nyoni could potentially give Liverpool a long-term number 6 option, with the teenager excelling after coming off the bench against Brighton on Sunday and starting to play in the majority of games under Iraola.
If LFC feel the need to recruit a more readymade, experienced alternative, they could viably turn to Lamine Camara of Monaco, who continues to be strongly linked with the Merseysiders and has posted some solid ball-winning statistics so far this season (as per Fotmob).
| 2026/27 Ligue 1 | Per 90 minutes | Percentile among positional peers |
| Recoveries | 8.88 | 99th (top 1%) |
| Tackles | 3.88 | 94th |
| Defensive contributions | 6.12 | 69th |
| Possession won in final third | 0.63 | 67th |
| Interceptions | 1.38 | 61st |
Liverpool can still be far too easy to play through in midfield, as Villarreal and Brighton exposed over the past week, with the Reds’ backline holding firm against the Seagulls and escaping with a clean sheet.
We imagine that plenty of Kopites will agree with Gerrard’s assertion that a natural number 6 could be the final piece of the jigsaw to turn Iraola’s side from Champions League hopefuls into potential Premier League title contenders.
