'I've seen Liverpool's plan for next season - and two summer transfer needs are glaring'

Liverpool exited the Champions League at the hands of PSG with Hugo Ekitike going off injured and Alexander Isak unable to play more than 45 minutes for Arne Slot

Alexander Isak in action for Liverpool against PSG.(Image: Michael Regan - UEFA via Getty Images)

Arne Slot said that Liverpool would need the Anfield atmosphere against PSG, and there is no doubt that it did its part.

Ousmane Dembele’s double was sufficient to seal another 2-0 victory for Luis Enrique’s men, but that felt harsh on the night. In reality, Liverpool had battled well. It showed some fight. It just couldn’t find a way through, with the damage having been done a week earlier at the Parc des Princes.

Before the second leg, the new, expensively assembled front three of Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz had only a total of 88 minutes together. Now, thanks to Ekitike going off injured, it has only extended to 117.

That was, ultimately, the problem for Liverpool. There was simply no goal forthcoming, no matter how much the Reds pressed.

With little in the way of a final touch of quality, PSG was under pressure but always still very much in control of the tie.

That is the next step for Liverpool: to get Isak, Ekitike and Wirtz on the field together again.

But, with Ekitike having been stretchered off, when might that be? Even if it comes before the end of the campaign, Isak’s best still looks a little way off; once more, he really struggled here.

Hugo Ekitike was stretchered off with a worrying injury as Liverpool exited the Champions League.(Image: FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)

In contrast, Dembele produced two devastating moments in the final third, pouncing to puncture any hope that the Reds had at that point in the game.

On top of the Ballon d'Or winner, PSG boss Enrique can also call upon Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue.

Liverpool was in dire need of some more attacking quality like that, even if it didn’t lack intent. The desire was there, but the attackers who were bought for games like these weren’t for long — and arguably, given Isak's current limitations, not really at all.

The blueprint for the rest of this season — the required energy levels and intensity — is clear, starting with Everton on Sunday.

Beyond that, however, getting Isak, Ekitike and Wirtz in the team at the same time has to be the aim, though it won’t be until next season that Liverpool sees anything close to the best of them.

And come the summer, there are two glaring transfer needs: Liverpool needs more squad depth, to be able to cope with setback after setback, and it needs at least one more clinical player in the final third.

Mohamed Salah, of course, has been that at his best. But with the Egyptian moving on, someone else needs to step up — alongside Isak and Ekitike — to make the most of the opportunities that Wirtz carves out.

Arne Slot’s men fought well. Now they need to get back into the Champions League next season, to deliver more of a mark than they ultimately managed here — and ensure that the pitch to some much-needed new signings in the next few weeks and months is more straightforward.