Newcastle may soon have £32m bonus to use but brutal Jurgen Klopp comment hints at transfer must

Jurgen Klopp did not exactly hold back with his post-match assessment. "The only plan they had, obviously, was long balls to our right side," the Liverpool boss said of Newcastle United following his side's 1-0 win on Saturday.

That tactic unnerved Liverpool a little in the opening stages as Joelinton won a number of headers from goal kicks and left-back Andy Robertson was the first to admit that Newcastle's record signing was 'causing us a couple of problems early on'. However, Liverpool soon adapted and limited Joelinton's influence and Newcastle lacked a threat in the final third thereafter as the Magpies again lined up without a recognised striker.

Eddie Howe started with Allan Saint-Maximin up front in the hope that the Frenchman could hurt the Reds through the middle on the break, but the experiment did not work. However, even when a traditional target man like Chris Wood was brought on midway through the second half, tellingly, the hosts did not look like scoring.

It is important to note, of course, that it does not just fall to the hard-working Wood to score goals in this side and the burden has been shared around in recent months. Allan Saint-Maximin, Jonjo Shelvey, Ryan Fraser (two), Kieran Trippier (two), Joe Willock (two), Joelinton (three), Fabian Schar (two), Chris Wood (two), Bruno Guimaraes (four) and Miguel Almiron have all got on the scoresheet in 2022.

Newcastle have certainly found a way to win without the injured Callum Wilson, which the Magpies struggled to do in a previous era not so long ago, but Saturday was also a reminder of how much the number nine has been missed. Wilson plays right on the shoulder of defenders, and asks questions with his pace and movement, but the Magpies' top scorer