Liverpool have held back from strengthening their midfield this summer.

Liverpool have made three signings this summer with the arrivals of Fulham's Fabio Carvalho on a free transfer, Darwin Nunez for a reported club record fee from Benfica and Aberdeen full-back Calvin Ramsey.

The National News Sport says the Reds could have signed Kalvin Phillips before his move to Manchester City, but rejected the chance to do so, despite it being considered a relatively 'easy' transfer to complete.

Jurgen Klopp's side also had the opportunity to sign Yves Bissouma ahead of his Tottenham switch and Youri Tielemans but chose against the idea of bringing in those players from Brighton and Leicester respectively.

The reason given was because they do not want to sign new players who will start out at the higher end of the wage bill.