5 signings who could win the Champions League for Liverpool

Okay, so Liverpool are probably no longer in the Premier League title race given the dominance of Manchester City, and they’ve just sold one of their most outstanding players in Philipe Coutinho.

But it’s not all negative for the Reds right now. Their first game after the loss of Coutinho saw them become the first side all season to defeat Manchester City, and they’re still in the Champions League.

With the Premier League title seemingly beyond them now, could they actually win the Champions League? It’s not impossible – after all, they won the tournament in 2005 without actually being the best side in the Premier League, and got to the final again in 2007.

To do it though, they’ll need to strengthen their squad this month. They’ve already bought Virgil Van Dijk to bolster their defence, but with the big money paid by Barcelona for Coutinho, they’ve got more to spend. Here are five players who could help Liverpool to win the Champions League this season.

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#5 Gianluigi Donnarumma

Gianluigi Donnarumma has fallen out of favour with Milan's fans, priming him for a move

One of Liverpool’s major weaknesses has been between the sticks – goalkeeper Simon Mignolet simply isn’t up to scratch when it comes to challenging for a league title or a major tournament like the Champions League, and their backup goalkeeper Loris Karius isn’t really any better.

With a lot of the world’s top keepers locked down at Champions League-challenging sides right now, Jurgen Klopp could turn to Milan’s teenage superstar Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Donnarumma has essentially been ever-present for Milan this season, but his relationship with the fans has seemingly broken down again.

When he first broke through at the club in 2015/16, he was labelled the “new Buffon” and his form has remained consistently good, but after much wrangling in the summer that saw the crowd turn on him for refusing a new contract, he eventually signed, only to now apparently want to leave again due to Milan being miles away from the Champions League spots.

He’d cost a hell of a lot of money – rumours suggest his release clause is anywhere between £30m and £65m – but it’s not like Liverpool can’t afford it and if they did sign Donnarumma, they’d probably be signing a world-class goalkeeper who could stick around for potentially the best part of two decades, meaning that fee wouldn’t really trouble them.

He’d be the perfect replacement for Mignolet and his signing wouldn’t involve them attempting to get a keeper from a Champions League rival.

#4 Harry Maguire

Harry Maguire would represent an upgrade at the centre of Liverpool's defence

Jurgen Klopp might’ve spent a world-record breaking amount for a defender to bring Virgil Van Dijk on board from Southampton, but he still has an issue when it comes to his defence.

Van Dijk is a proven quantity, but all season long Klopp has preferred a back four with two central defenders – which leaves Van Dijk with a potential liability as a partner in the form of either Ragnar Klavan, Dejan Lovren or Joel Matip.

All three have been exposed at the top level over their time with Liverpool, so it’s time for Klopp to look elsewhere for a partner for Van Dijk. One man who he should be looking closely at is Leicester City’s Harry Maguire.

Maguire only signed for Leicester from Hull this summer, but he’s had an excellent season thus far and has broken into England’s first-team setup and looked extremely comfortable defending against both Germany and Brazil for the Three Lions.

With an excellent positional sense, good ball-playing skills and a tough tackle when need be, Maguire would represent a massive upgrade on all of Liverpool’s current – non Van Dijk – central defenders, and with Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson now seemingly having the full-back positions nailed down, if the Reds were to sign him, then suddenly, the Liverpool’s defence would look pretty formidable.

#3 Jack Wilshere

Jack Wilshere could provide the creativity that Liverpool will miss without Coutinho

With the loss of Coutinho, Liverpool are missing a truly creative player in the centre of their midfield – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would like to fill the role, but there’s another Arsenal player who could slot into the spot even more seamlessly and would be as creative as even Coutinho was.

He’s out of contract in the summer so could potentially be bought this month too – his name is Jack Wilshere.

Liverpool have largely favoured a 4-3-3 midfield this season, with a front trio usually consisting of any three of Coutinho, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah.

Take Coutinho away from there and you’ve still got three deadly forwards, but add Wilshere into a midfield usually consisting of the likes of Emre Can, Giorginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson – somewhat devoid of creativity – and you give Liverpool the spark of Coutinho but from a deeper position.

It’s a position that Wilshere has been playing in brilliantly for Arsenal as of late – he’s been their best player by far in recent games – and the difference in his decision-making and ability to pick open a defence when compared to someone like Henderson is night and day.

Assuming Wilshere could stay fit, he’d be the sort of difference-maker who could allow Liverpool to win a major honour like the Champions League.

#2 Riyad Mahrez

Riyad Mahrez would slot right into Liverpool's playing style

If Liverpool wanted to replace the role that Coutinho’s been playing in outright, then a man they could definitely turn to could be Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez.

Coutinho has largely played in an advanced role this season, something Mahrez is very used to, having played largely as a winger-come-forward for Leicester since his arrival there in 2013/14.

It could be argued that he’d be a downgrade on Coutinho – their stats in terms of Premier League goals and assists this season are similar, but Mahrez has played in ten more games – but if he could recapture the form that he showed in 2015/16, when he was arguably Leicester’s key player, scoring 17 and assisting in 11, he could certainly fill the Brazilian’s boots, especially playing alongside the likes of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.

Leicester wouldn’t want to part with the Algerian superstar but Mahrez has already expressed a wish to move on from the King Power Stadium now it’s become clear that their Premier League title win in 2015/16 was an outlier, and Liverpool could offer him Champions League football right away, something Arsenal – who have also been linked with him – couldn’t.

If he could hit the ground running, then he could even help them to a major underdog win in Europe’s biggest competition.

#1 Thomas Lemar

Liverpool's fans have already expressed an interest in Thomas Lemar

Similar to Riyad Mahrez, Monaco’s French attacker Thomas Lemar would also represent a replacement for Coutinho, able to play from the wing or as part of a front trio, and he’s been in excellent form this season thus far. Lemar, despite losing the majority of his more outstanding teammates at Monaco, has still scored two and assisted in four in Ligue One.

Lemar’s style of play – heavily reliant on movement, quick passes with his teammates, and an ability to shoot with both feet – sounds like it’s tailor-made to fit alongside Liverpool’s other forwards like Mane, Salah and Firmino.

With Liverpool favouring a front three this season, he’d slot into the team immediately and would mean Liverpool could consider themselves to have a “Fab Four” of speedy attackers once again – attackers who could make an assault on the Champions League.

The Frenchman would cost a lot of money - £90m is the figure that’s been bandied about recently – but it appears that the Reds’ fans want him.

In a recent poll of 16 players ranging from Alexis Sanchez to Ryan Sessegnon with Liverpool fans being asked who they wanted the most, Lemar came out on top underneath only the potential to get Naby Keita – who’s already signed – to Anfield a few months early. That has to be a sign.