Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is keen to improve their scouting.
Hodgson, who brought the likes of Chris Smalling, Bobby Zamora and Brede Hangeland to Fulham, believes it is one area the Reds can improve.
"I think you can pay an awful lot of money for poor players and you can pay not very much money for very good ones - it is all to do with how good your scouting and your eye is," he told liverpoolfc.tv.
"There are a lot of things here that the club has got to get right. We have got a lot more expensive failures on our list than good players that we have brought in for next to nothing.
"Free transfers don't necessarily mean that you have got a bargain. My experience of them has been very mixed. You need to be sure that the player you get can do the job you want from him."
