Former Liverpool forward Stan Collymore has urged the Premier League champions to sign Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane next summer if they wish to compete with Manchester City for the title once again next season.
A run of just two wins from their last nine league games has seen Jurgen Klopp's side slip 10 points behind Pep Guardiola's men at the summit, who themselves extended their winning streak to 14 matches with last weekend's victory at Anfield, equalling the all-time record for English top-flight clubs.
Collymore states in his column for the Daily Mirror that Liverpool need to match the spending of City if they are to maintain a title challenge next season and has urged the Reds to place a bid for England's number nine.
"[Liverpool] do need to wake up and smell the coffee, which means owners FSG spending money to go toe-to-toe with City in that period," the 50-year-old said.
"It means that if City go out and buy Erling Braut Haaland this summer then Liverpool must buy the next Robert Lewandowski or even put in a bid for Harry Kane.
"What they can't do is just say, 'We have a really good XI, some youngsters coming through, and we can maintain our challenges that way', because there are too many other teams with the money to make sure that won't be the case."
Liverpool duo Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have scored a combined 13 goals in the Premier League so far this campaign, the same total as Kane and three short of top goalscorer Mohamed Salah, who has 16.
Oliver Thomas
