Danny Mills Claims Liverpool Should Sell Philippe Coutinho to Fund Squad Overhaul

Struggling for form domestically, already nine points off the pace as Premier League leaders Manchester City look set to dominate, former Citizens defender and BBC pundit Danny Mills believes Liverpool might have been better off selling Philippe Coutinho to fund a great challenge for silverware.

As reported by the International Business Times, via a BBC podcast, Mills has claimed that in order for manager Jurgen Klopp to push his side for major honours, the Reds should have sold Coutinho to Barcelona in the summer, creating a hefty amount of cash to sign a number of needed positions in the squad.

"Their recruitment hasn't been brilliant," said the former tough-tacking defender. "They still need a number one goalkeeper, a dominant centre-half or two, a really strong powerful midfield player and a centre-forward who can score 20 plus goals a season. 

"They are still three or four players missing to win the Premier League. They are five or six players to win the Champions League."

On the back of a convincing 7-0 thrashing of Maribor in their most recent Champions League fixture, Liverpool looked at their free-flowing best.

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However, it has been a different story in the Premier League where a mixed bag of results has seen the Reds fall behind their rivals in the English top flight.

Mills later admitted that the five-time European Cup winners might be better changing tact, shifting from the building process of adding stars who will add quality in the future, instead adopting a buy-now policy of ready-made players which can help the team fight for the biggest trophies immediately, similar to some of their rivals.

"Look at what all the other big teams have done," added Mills. "United have brought Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] in now. If you go back in time United brought in Robin van Persie aged 30-something.

"Sometimes you need a player who is going to play for this season, next season and that is it. Just write it off. You can't keep building for the future because the future will never come."