JAMIE CARRAGHER has told Liverpool to “move on” a star after seven years at Anfield – despite Jurgen Klopp calling the player “one of best” transfers.
The Reds ended the season trophyless and out of the Champions League.
Jamie Carragher has urged Liverpool to sell a long-serving defender
An 11-match unbeaten run at the end of the campaign led to a fifth-placed finish to earn a spot in the Europa League.
However, boss Klopp is expected to embark on a huge rebuilding job this summer in order to try and get Liverpool back in the hunt for the Premier League title.
Brighton’s Argentinian World Cup winning midfielder Alexis Mac Allister looks set to join Liverpool.
Meanwhile, long-serving players such as Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are all set to depart when their contracts end this month.
But Liverpool legend Carragher has now also stressed that he feels Klopp should let another player go in order to help Klopp bring in defensive reinforcements.
He told Redmen Plus: “I look at the defence and I think Joel Matip now has got a year to go.
“If you got £10million, whatever the price may be, it’s probably right to move on.
“I do think we need a left-sided defender, a left-footed centre-back. A lot of teams have them, we don’t. A left-sided player would add something.
“Rather than getting a left-back because I don’t think we will, if we are going to continue with this formation now, (it should be) buying someone in that area, a centre-back who can do the full-back role.
“I definitely think a left-sided centre-back who can do that left-back job.”
Matip, 31, was signed by Liverpool in 2016 from Schalke.
The Cameroon international missed a chunk of Liverpool’s Premier League-winning campaign in 2019-20 due to injury.
But he did play a huge role in their Champions League success the previous season.
Matip has also lifted both the FA Cup and League Cup during his time on Merseyside and has made over 150 appearances for the club.
Klopp previously said: “In a world of big transfer fees, to sign a player like Joel Matip on a free transfer is incredible.
“It was maybe one of the best pieces of business we did in the last few years.”
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Joel Matip was described by Jurgen Klopp as one of his ‘best’ signings
The defender has been at Anfield since arriving on a free in 2016
