Reuters Soccer Blog

Who should Liverpool target to reverse their slump?

Liverpool ’s dismal start to the season is an open wound on Merseyside and events over the last seven days have thrown a handful of salt into the gaping gash.

Michael Owen reminded Reds fans what an able deputy he could have been for Fernando Torres by firing a clinical Champions League hat-trick against Wolfsburg, while their own campaign came to a whimpering end at home to Fiorentina.

And then Andrei Arshavin, who seems to enjoy playing at Anfield more than any Liverpool player does at the moment, hammered what must be the final nail in their Premier League coffin.

The only positive for Reds supporters that may come from the Russian’s moment of brilliance is if Liverpool ’s increasingly unpopular owners realise that players of Arshavin’s ability cannot be acquired in football’s equivalent of the bargain basement.

And if there were ever a man in need of a spot of retail therapy, it’s Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez.

So assuming there is money to spend, and that is a massive ‘if’, who could Liverpool turn to when the window opens in January to turn their season around?