Michael Owen believes Liverpool need a younger midfielder and if they pursue interest in West Ham United's Declan Rice, they could gazump the opposition to his signature.
The England international has been at the heart of their success under Gareth Southgate as they reached the European Championships final before exiting the World Cup at the quarter-finals stage. As a result of his rise following a number of impressive displays for club and country, he was courting interest from the likes of Manchester United.
He opted to stay at the London Stadium for this campaign after David Moyes slapped a £100m price-tag on his head which seemingly deterred prospective suitors.
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The Hammers have endured a difficult campaign and find themselves in the relegation dogfight as they sit just four points clear of the drop zone. But amid their struggles, talk of a move away is starting to ramp up and the former Reds striker believes he could make a difference at Anfield.
"Maybe the midfield's aging, or maybe there needs to be more investment in the squad, or maybe there's a lack of confidence, or maybe there's injuries have played their part," Owen said speaking to AceOdds. "Maybe the ownership needs to change. Whatever it is, it feels like there's so many excuses.
"Liverpool are still trying to play a high line, an aggressive game, but without any form of cohesion in the forward position. So subsequently they're being exposed loads and loads of times and now it looks like the whole deck of cards has fallen down.
"Liverpool do need a midfielder, preferably a younger one, because obviously there's no escaping the likes of Thiago, Henderson and Milner, Fabinho, they're not going to be around forever. They're all in the latter stages of their careers," he added on what departments need strengthening from Jurgen Klopp's side. "So I do think there needs to be investment, but Jurgen Klopp isn't stupid. He knows that as well and he'll go and do that."
Rice's future remains uncertain as talk of playing Champions League football next season continues. One of the teams mooted by Owen is another one of his former sides, Newcastle United.
However, despite their positive campaign, the former Liverpool striker believes if they enter the race it could sway his ambitions as a summer of change looms in the engine room.
"I think Declan would make an impact in most teams, to be honest. Even Liverpool could do with someone like Declan. I think virtually every team would love to have him in their team. I guess it's looking around at the teams who needs him most and who's willing to pay and whether West Ham would sell.
"But I do think after this season, it's going to be difficult for West Ham to keep him. He's given great service and he probably wants to be competing in a team that can win trophies, can challenge and play in the Champions League etc.
"So I think there'll be a lot of teams sniffing around Declan. I mean it [Newcastle] looks an upwardly mobile club and it looks like a club that you'd be excited about the future. So I'm sure he'll have one eye on that if Newcastle are in for him.
"But if a team like Manchester United, or Manchester City or Liverpool are in for him, my suspicion is that those types of teams are still slightly ahead of Newcastle as we stand at the moment and that he would probably prefer to join one of those."
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