Liverpool have been backed to go into the transfer market to sign a new striker after the injury to Hugo Ekitike. The France international suffered a ruptured Achilles during the Reds' defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday night.
Ekitike now faces a lengthy spell in recovery, and has already been ruled out for this summer's World Cup by France head coach Didier Deschamps.
Liverpool signed Ekitike from Rennes last summer in a deal worth up to £79million, with the 23-year-old scoring 17 goals during his debut season at Anfield.
The injury to Ekitike leaves Alexander Isak as the club's only available recognised centre forward, with the Sweden international only recently returning from a four-month absence following a fractured fibula and ankle injury.
As a result, Liverpool have now been told by former Newcastle and Blackburn striker Alan Shearer why they will need to sign a centre forward after the injury to Ekitike.
"Ekitike will be a huge miss for Liverpool with his serious injury," Shearer told Betfair. "Him and Szoboszlai have probably been the best two players for Liverpool this season."
He added: "I think they’re [Liverpool] going to have to go into the transfer market now looking for a striker off the back of this injury because, as well as that, the likes of Andy Robertson and [Mohamed] Salah are leaving as well.
"Ekitike is going to be out for six to nine months, so my guess is they'll have to go into the market. Isak hasn't played for a full season either, so the answer is they're going to have to.
"Who they go for I don't know, and how much they can spend we don't know, but Liverpool will have to go again, because this season's not been good enough for their own very high standards.
"Injuries have not been the reason for Liverpool’s poor season; every team has injuries. I would say it's more than the injuries as I think It's been many things.
"Clearly, their two big hitters in Van Dijk and Salah haven't been anywhere near the standard that we've seen in the past.
"Their new signings, other than probably Ekitike, haven't worked as yet and you can say that with all of them. I mean, all of them played the other night.
"We haven't seen the best of any of them, perhaps other than Ekitike, which, when you consider the money that's been spent has partly been down to their demise this season.
"There are so many areas to improve on for Liverpool."
