On January 1, Liverpool appeared to be real title challengers.

They had just beaten Manchester City on New Year’s Eve and looked to be Chelsea’s biggest rivals for the Premier League trophy.

However, come the end of the season, Liverpool scraped a fourth-placed finish, 17 points behind champions Chelsea.

It was clear that the Merseysiders lacked squad depth at times as they struggled to deal with a couple of injuries - despite the fact they didn’t have European football.

So, with the prospect of Champions League next season if they can navigate their playoff round in August, it’s clear that Klopp needs to strengthen his squad.

But who does he need to sign?

Well, they have already been linked with the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah but they’ve struggled to get the two deals over the line.

However, club legend and Liverpool Under 18 manager Steven Gerrard doesn’t think that Van Dijk and Salah are necessarily needed.

Gerrard identifies two priorities

Instead, the former midfielder has identified two positions that should be the priority this summer.

“I think we’ve got a fantastic manager at the helm, who will hopefully attract a few big names to complete the jigsaw,” Gerrard told BT, per the Independent.

“I think Liverpool are very, very close and if you look at the statistics of the top six from last season they were the best team in terms of head-to-head.

"So Liverpool know where they need to improve and it’s consistency against the teams in the bottom half of the table – the teams that sit narrow, compact and are difficult to break down.

“Hopefully we can get the two or three big pieces of the jigsaw that are missing and I’m really confident that Liverpool can keep moving forward and there will be success just around the corner.

“I think we need someone in the left-back position, James [Milner] has done a fantastic job out there, but it would be nice to have another option out there as well. And maybe one more attacking player to give some more firepower and help unlock the defences that are really narrow and compact.

“I don’t think we need major reconstruction, I think it’s just a couple of pieces of the jigsaw left and I’m really happy with where we are at the moment.”

Of course, suggesting that Liverpool can challenge for the title with just two signings is easier said than done. After all, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea are very likely to spend big this summer, signing world-class players in the process.

But if Gerrard thinks Liverpool can challenge for the title with a left-back and an attacker, who are we to argue with him?