With the sale of Luis Suarez completed, Liverpool now have another 75 million pounds in the bank, money which is already being used to bring in more top talent to the club. Lazar Markovic, Wilfried Bony, and Romelu Lukaku have all been linked to the Merseyside club, and fans will be hoping that all three will put pen to paper on a final deal. However, the area which Liverpool should really be focusing on strengthening is the defence.

True, Liverpool have been interested in Southampton and Croatia defender Dejan Lovren, but is he enough? For me, no. It is no secret that Liverpool’s brilliant attack helped to paper over the clear defensive cracks last season. Had it not been for the imperious form of the SAS- especially Suarez- Liverpool’s defence would have completely derailed the club’s title challenge. They conceded a whopping 50 goals, way too many for a side competing for the title. And now with Suarez gone, Liverpool will seriously find it hard to replicate their free scoring feats of last season, meaning that the pressure on Liverpool’s defence to become tighter will increase. Can their back line respond? I don’t think they can.

When looking at title winning teams of the past, their has always been at least one leader at the back, someone who is fearless, courageous, and can organize the defence. Whether it be Chelsea, with John Terry, Manchester City with Vincent Kompany, Manchester United with Vidic and Ferdinand, or even Sol Campbell at Arsenal during their Invincibles season, there has always been at least one leader. None of Liverpool’s current centre backs can be called leaders. Mamadou Sakho and Martin Skrtel are both fine defenders, but when the going has gotten tough, and the pressure has been cranked up, neither of them have stepped up. The best example of this was at Crystal Palace late in the season. After Palace pulled one back, Sakho and Skrtel should have kept composed, and although there was no respite from a buzzing Selhurst Park crowd, seen the game out without much fuss. Instead, they cracked, and Palace came back to make it 3-3. In that situation, they need a leader to just organize the back line and ensure that the defence is even stronger. Skrtel has proved himself to be the stronger of the two, and hence a replacement is needed for Sakho.

Dejan Lovren is a class defender, but is he a leader? I don’t think so. Liverpool should really target the elite defenders in the world, and given the stature of the club, and the success they achieved last season, I don’t think it will be hard for them to attract the best in the world. One player who has received critical acclaim for his work last season was Mehdi Benatia, the Moroccan centre back who enjoyed a stellar season at Roma. His name has been linked with clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea, but given the great defensive record of the latter, and the fact that the former are close to completing a move for Eliaquim Mangala, Liverpool should really fancy their chances of signing him should they make a bid in the region of 20 million pounds. Benatia on average committed 10 defensive actions per match, with 90 interceptions and 20 blocks during all of last season, which easily trumps Mamadou Sakho’s 27 interceptions and 7 blocks. Another player who Liverpool should target is Mats Hummels. Already an established performer before the World Cup, his stock would have shot up after his solid showings in Brazil. The German is 25, at the peak of his powers, and with Borussia Dortmund losing yet another big player in Lewandowski, as well as their failure to sustain their impressive form from the 2012-13 season, Hummels may find himself considering his future away from the club.

If there is one area that Liverpool definitely need to look at, it is the left back position. It is fair to say that whether Brendan Rodgers experimented with playing either a left wing back, or a more orthodox left back, both Aly Cissokho and Jose Enrique played poorly last season, with injuries to both not helping their cause. And now with the former back at Valencia after his loan deal expired, and Enrique still awaiting his first professional game of 2014, Rodgers will have to look for a new regular left back. Enrique has proved himself as a solid defender, but with age catching up to him, and injuries becoming more frequent, Rodgers cannot fully rely on him to play 3o plus games a season anymore. It is solely for this reason that he must dip into the market for a new left back. Albert Moreno is a favourite of the media, but I think the player who Liverpool should target is Marcos Rojo. He had a brilliant World Cup for Argentina, with his contributions at the back helping his country make the finals for the first time since 1990. As well as his defensive capabilities, Rojo’s penchant for bombarding down the flanks and supporting the winger allows him to operate as either a left back or a left wing back, both of which are used by Rodgers. This versatility will certainly be an asset for Liverpool given the tactical flexibility that they have.