Robbie Fowler says Liverpool need 'five or six' players in transfer window to justify £200m duo

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If you're looking at it from a Liverpool fan's perspective I'd be amazed if it's not five players as a minimum."Fowler added: "It'll be interesting because the players coming in, they (Ekitike, Isak and Florian Wirtz) have been here a year now and they will know what is expected and they will probably understand what Liverpool is all about.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page"But I refer back to pre-season, the form we have seen from them at their previous clubs, they are all neat and tidy players but they have obviously come in with a plan from (CEO of football) Michael Edwards and (sporting director) Richard Hughes, who have sat down and earmarked where they are going to play."I'd be amazed if there is not a conversation over where new players are going to fit into a system because if you are spending £200m upwards on strikers then you've got to have the players who can supply them."Now if you have a team plan or formation that indicates that wide players will cut inside all the time then that is not conducive to spending £200m on strikers."For me, there's obviously something that needs to be done in terms of getting players in that far end of the pitch who can supply crosses by going on the outside, as well as players up that end of the pitch who can cut inside."That's why maybe this year, I mean 'write-off' is probably a wrong phrase, but Isak was available, Ekitike was available, so obviously you've signed players for £200m there."So it seems crazy that you're picking those players and you haven't got someone there who can get to the byline and put balls into the box for these strikers to attack,"If you're playing up front and cutting inside all the time where all the defensive bodies are then it's hard and difficult."Not only for the wingers to find the forward but also the forward is then feeding off scraps.

I think he got injured at the wrong time for him because it did look like he was getting a little bit of form."I am probably a bit disappointed in terms of the length of time it took for him to get that at the start of the season, it tells you the impact the [lack of] pre-season had on him."So it is of the utmost importance now coming into Liverpool, it's a big club - we know - but we as former Liverpool players know that you have to hit the ground running."He hasn't done that, has he? The World Cup is big for him, it could prove to be a confidence-booster for him, depending on how well Sweden do."But then you sort of worry about him coming into a pre-season period on the back of a World Cup where he wouldn't get the pre-season we'd all want him to because that is probably what he has lacked since he signed at Liverpool."It's never easy.

So it is maybe a bit different, because I didn't really feel the pressure as such."He might be a little bit different because he hasn't been the player we brought to the club and again injuries have played a part in that."I've no doubt he will perform and play well and score goals for Liverpool. But I think the importance of him getting his body right before he plays games is massive."Again, you look at the World Cup and I am not saying he should use that as a stepping stone because it is the World Cup but at least when we were playing, there was a progression of game-time to get back into the team when you had been injured and I think he has lacked that."Years ago, we had the B team, the reserves and the first team.