Do Liverpool Really Need Another Right-Back?

I’ll support any player who pulls on the shirt, simple as that. But the idea of Liverpool spending proper money on another right-back right now just doesn’t sit right with me, not when the squad already looks stocked there and other areas feel more obvious.

The name being floated is Read, and maybe he’s a special talent. I can’t pretend I’ve watched him week in, week out. What I can do is look at the situation we’re in and wonder why this is the hill we’re choosing to climb.

Right-back isn’t exactly empty, is it?

We’ve got Calvin Ramsay, 22, and in the one proper chance Arne Slot gave him against Palace he looked sharp and comfortable. He’s also been doing well for the U21s and, crucially, seems to be getting past the injury issues that have stalled him. If you’re asking for a pathway from academy and squad players, that’s it right there.

Then there’s Frimpong, who we’ve just spent £30m on. You don’t make that sort of outlay and then immediately start shopping for another right-back unless you’re either planning something very specific tactically, or you’ve lost faith in your own ability to manage what you’ve already got.

On top of that, Gomez gets used at right-back regularly anyway, and to be fair he often looks more natural there than he does at centre-half. So when you add it up, it’s not like we’re rummaging around with no options.

The injury angle makes it feel even stranger

What really makes my head wobble is the profile. A 19-year-old, unproven at this level, for what you’d expect is relatively big money, while he’s been struggling with a hamstring injury. If he’s just come back and gone off again, you’re instantly asking for another rehab job.

And that’s before you even get to the short-term reality: Bradley is out for the season, fine. But if he’s back next season and we’ve piled another right-back into the mix, what then? Five players all wanting minutes in the same spot? That’s how you end up stunting development and annoying senior pros at the same time.

Coach it, don’t just buy it

This is where the “chequebook manager” worry creeps in. Not because I’m against recruitment, far from it, but because you want to see a manager solve smaller problems with coaching, with structure, with trust in the squad. Especially when the alternative is shifting midfielders like Dom or Jones into right-back again. It feels like forcing it.

If we’re spending, I’d rather it went towards the positions the fanbase keeps pointing at as needs. For me, that’s where Hughes has to be decisive, and where Slot has to lean into what he’s already got rather than stacking the same role over and over.

Written by MK Scouser: 18 January 2026