Liverpool sent worrying 'rebuild' message as Peter Crouch hits out at 'brutal' decisions

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Liverpool will lose Mohamed Salah this summer and Peter Crouch believes that Arne Slot's men are facing a major rebuild in the final third when the transfer window opens

TNT Sports pundit Peter Crouch.(Image: Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)

Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch says Arne Slot's attack is facing a major rebuild this summer, with Mohamed Salah set to depart a year before his contract expires.

Last summer, the Reds brought in Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike for big money, but they are yet to see the best of the former. Meanwhile, the latter has just undergone surgery for a serious Achilles injury that will keep him out for a sustained period of several months.

In the summer, Liverpool will need to inject some more pace in wide areas. RB Leipzig teenager Yan Diomande has been linked and Crouch believes there might need to be more than one addition.

"I do think they still need something up front and maybe even a look at the spine of the team itself," Crouch told Paddy Power.

"Losing [Luis] Diaz, [Diogo] Jota, and Salah all in the space of almost two years is brutal. There definitely needs to be a rebuild.

"Player-wise, it depends on how much you’ve got to spend. Michael Olise would be a class act, but it will be so difficult and expensive [to sign him from Bayern Munich]."

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside via Getty Images)

Last year, Liverpool spent around $600M on new players, though about half of that was recouped in sales. This year, the Reds will need to go again in the market to add more speed and depth.

"As a group, Liverpool have underperformed to what they feel they'll be capable of coming off the back of winning the title," the former Reds midfielder Charlie Adam told Liverpool.com this week.

"But within that, individuals have not hit the heights that they know they probably could have.

"Now it looks like they're going to have to get another number nine with Ekitike going to be out long-term too.

"They need a new right winger to replace Salah. They're going to need a full-back to replace Andy Robertson. There are four or five positions possibly needing to be filled here.

"It'll be really interesting to see what (sporting director) Richard Hughes and the recruitment team and the manager decide to do in the summer."

Liverpool.com says: Adding a new winger or two, with Rio Ngumoha to think about too, will make a big difference for the Reds. That should allow Florian Wirtz to play a central role, and you have to imagine that Isak will improve next term as well.