Pep Lijnders makes honest FSG spending claim as Liverpool January transfer window update given

Pep Lijnders revealed that Liverpool will not use the January transfer window as a quick fix to their mounting injury problems - after owners Fenway Sports Group invested heavily in the squad during the summer.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is the latest key player to be consigned to the treatment table after suffering a knee injury in Sunday's 2-0 FA Cup win at Arsenal. Dominik Szoboszlai, Andy Robertson, Thiago Alcantara, Kostas Tsimikas, Joel Matip, Stefan Bajcetic and Ben Doak are also sidelined while Mo Salah and Wataru Endo are unavailable as they're on African Cup of Nations and Asian Cup duty with Egypt and Japan respectively.

It means the Reds' squad is stretched for tomorrow's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Fulham, while Jurgen Klopp's side will not want to surrender their lead at the Premier League summit. Liverpool could look to bolster their numbers by dipping into the transfer market - but Lijnders insisted that is not the solution after splashing out circa £150 million for Szoboszlai, Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch last summer.

The Reds assistant manager said: "We spent a lot of money in the summer. We really invested in the squad. The ownership really brought in the right players. This means even when you have injuries at the moment, they will be back in not hat long, hopefully. The difference between a good season and a top season is when you are going through these phases, how the squad reacts when people are missing.

"Mo going, how does [Diogo] Jota, Darwin [Nunez], Cody [Gakpo], Lucho [Diaz], Harvey [Elliott] step up. Then we always believe in the academy as well. The one thing is you want to produce your own players to be able to fight, to compete to win prizes. The other reason we have an academy when there are 50 players hoping, running and dreaming is in these moments when it gets harder and you have injuries, they can back you."