Richard Keys surprised by one Liverpool star and doubles down on ‘foolish’ Erling Haaland claim

Richard Keys saluted Liverpool’s ‘terrific’ performance in their demoltion of Manchester United.

But the former Sky Sports presenter still believes midfield reinforcements are required in the summer transfer window.

The Reds made history by thrashing their fierce rivals 7-0 at Anfield on Sunday. Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah - who became the club’s all-time Premier League top scorer - all fired doubles before Roberto Firmino rounded off the win.

Liverpool are now up to fifth in the table and just three points behind Tottenham Hotspur in their pursuit of Champions League qualification.

But amid a season that has yielded stuttering results, Keys reckons Klopp won’t be getting carried away. Although he was impressed by the midfield trio of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Harvey Elliott, he reckons that signs will still be needed come the end of the campaign.

Writing in his blog, Keys said: “Liverpool were terrific. They answered every question that’s been asked of them recently, but Klopp isn’t daft enough to think they’re back. In an adrenalin fuelled atmosphere two of his ageing mid-field were fantastic, but Henderson and Fabinho can’t play at those levels every week anymore. Klopp has got to recruit in that dept.

“Elliott surprised me. Perhaps there is a player in there after all? And congrats to Salah, who has got to hit those heights every week again now if Liverpool are to make a CL place - and maybe turn round the tie against Madrid? Who knows? Well - we all do really! But why not dream a little?”

Nunez took his tally to 14 goals for the campaign. The forward joined Liverpool for an initial £64 million from Benfica last summer and early comparisons were made between the Uruguay international and Erling Haaland - who completed a £51 million switch to Manchester City.

Haaland may have scored a barnstorming 33 goals for City but Keys believes that Nunez, in the long term, could be the better purchase.

He added: “As Nunez grabbed two more my mind went back to an early season blog I wrote when I said I really fancied him as a player - and that he might be a better long term bet than Haaland. The way the Norwegian started the season made that call look a little foolish, but I’m beginning to wonder if I wasn’t right after all. And notice I said ‘long term’.”