Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has questioned why Liverpool have not spent £100m to bring in Moises Caicedo from Brighton.

Chelsea are locked in talks to sign the Ecuadorian international but, speaking on The Overlap, Neville called out the Merseyside club’s owners for not backing manager Jurgen Klopp in the transfer market:

“They should just be going and getting Caicedo now for him and saying ‘right, there you go, that’s dealt with, it’s sorted, it’s £100m. But they’re not. They’re trying to pinch someone off Southampton for 40 million quid [Lavia], who’s a good player don’t get me wrong, but Jurgen Klopp needs the real deal.”

“They can’t challenge Manchester City with a player who’s got potential, they need to do it with a player who’s real. I do think it’s going to come back on the owners at some point.”

FSG have always done things their own way

While Neville is absolutely right to say that signing players like Romeo Lavia are not going to deliver trophies straight away, that is how the club have operated under the ownership of Fenway Sports Group over the last decade.

They rarely overspend on players, and that is led to them being heavily criticised by a section of Liverpool supporters. However, you don’t have to look very far to see that lavish spending doesn’t necessarily work. Chelsea’s £600m investment led to them finishing 12th. It is about being smart.

Liverpool need to reinforce the midfield

Even so, as Neville points out, Klopp deserves to be backed and, while the club have spent £95m on Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, more needs to be done.

While they may not spend £100m on Caicedo, they could still shell out a similar amount recruiting Lavia and, potentially, two other players before the transfer window closes.