Liverpool told they need a new striker but already have one option in the building
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Former Liverpool marksman Dean Saunders believes the club could turn to their academy to support Alexander IsakAlexander Isak's goals could be the difference between success and failure for Liverpool next season, but Dean Saunders has told the Reds they should avoid heading into the new campaign without a plan B.Isak - Liverpool's £125m record signing - flattered to deceive across 22 appearances in all competitions in his debut season at Anfield. Ekitike went on to suffer a serious injury of his own, rupturing his Achilles tendon against PSG in April, while Isak looked much sharper putting in a string of positive performances for Sweden at the World Cup.Former Liverpool striker Saunders, though, who partnered Ian Rush up front in the 1991/92 season, warned his old club against relying too heavily on the Swede.Speaking to LiveFootballTickets, Saunders said: "Isak is going to be a huge factor for Liverpool next season, he needs to have a big year and stay injury-free."Everybody thought when Liverpool signed him last season that was the title over.
If they keep him fit, he's a 30-goals-a-season striker, and they can potentially win the Premier League."Given his injury record, I think signing another striker would be a sensible option for Liverpool before the end of the window."Liverpool have been most heavily linked with Bradley Barcola in terms of attacking signings this summer. Over his previous two seasons at Newcastle, he missed 17 in total.While the Swede's injury record had improved prior to his swapping the North East for Merseyside, Liverpool will have to hope that last season's disruption will have no further impact on the season to come.Rotation will likely be required to reduce the load on Isak, and Saunders has tipped his compatriot Lewis Koumas to step up to the challenge of being a genuine squad option for the Reds.Koumas scored the fourth goal in a 4-2 win over Sunderland in Andoni Iraola's first pre-season friendly on Saturday (July 25), and enjoyed a strong second half of last season on loan at Hull City as he helped the Tigers win promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs."We've certainly seen it before at Liverpool, haven't we," Saunders said, "so I'm not sure I could rule out Lewis Koumas coming into the side and making an impression."Liverpool's history has been built on homegrown young strikers like Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler.
Liverpool will have hundreds of millions of pounds of talent on the bench if he gets a few starts, and he needs to prove quickly he can keep up with them."Craig Bellamy has had him in the Wales team and said his best position is playing up front, so I think Liverpool must see that too. Lewis needs to watch all of Liverpool's most talented players in training and emulate what they are doing every day, and he might get a look in."He needs to stay sharp and wait for his opportunity at Liverpool, which I'm sure will come."FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!