Mark Ogden

Well, they had the money to do Antoine Semenyo.

If Semenyo had wanted to go to Man United, they could have done the deal at £65 million.

But the reason why they're not going to spend it elsewhere is that they believe that they need midfielders and the ones that they want, the ones that are good enough they feel, aren't available this window.

So Elliot Anderson, Adam Watt and Carlos Buleba in United's eyes are not available.

So why dip into your money now on people that aren't quite what you want and dilute your spending power in the summer?

That's their logic, but obviously if they spent £50 million, £60 million now on a couple of players, that would make them better.

They haven't got a right-back who's any good, apart from Masraoui, who's a wing-back, so there's no cover for Dalot.

You need a right-back.

I guess you still need to bring Midfield in, but their argument is that if you spend that money now, it means that we might not get the player that we want in the summer.

So that's their view of it, but obviously if they spend now and get in the Champions League, they'll have more money to spend on the players they want in the summer.

Well, when I was talking to somebody about the Man United situation during the week, we kind of went off topic a bit.

We were talking about Xabi Alonso and how he wouldn't be a Man United coach.

Anyway, it was put to me that Xabi Alonso will end up at Bayern Munich this summer because Vincent Kompany will go to Manchester City.

So I don't know who Liverpool are going to get, but that's the story I was told in midweek.

The goal line maybe flattered Liverpool a bit in the end, 4-1, I don't think it was a full-on performance, I thought Barnsley did really well, gave Liverpool a real scare, but, you know, great goal by Florian Wurz, made it a lot safer towards the end, but I don't think Arne Slott will be too happy with the performance, I think you look at some of the fringe players who came in and thought they could have done better, could have set up a little bit, so, yes, an important win, but I think a few of the players that came in missed the chance to step up really and maybe give them a selection problem for the big games coming up.

No, I mean, the Bradley situation is a big one because, you know, who plays it right back in the game?

So they get to the latter stage of the Champions League where they need somebody who can defend as well.

You can't really rely on Frimpong.

You know, Shaboslai's done well there this season, but he's probably needed in midfield.

So, yeah, I think Liverpool are showing a few signs of strain.