I think we need to see Wijnaldum in the '6' over a larger sample of games ... don't get me wrong I've said on here that, in theory, I think he has more assets to thrive there than in his usual more advanced role, but he's played there in about two competitive games for us. I'd be uneasy with going into an entire season with only Henderson as a credible option in that role.
It's tough because on the one hand I agree with Jookie that Silva and De Bruyne's consistency of output and overall quality is probably where we are most lagging behind City, but they have far more space to enter into than our midfielders generally do. Sane and Sterling hug the touchline on their natural side, dragging full-backs out and creating space on the inside, whereas Mane and Salah are inverted wide forwards occupying the half-spaces.
As such I think it's more important that our '8' options are highly capable of creating overloads; Ox, Lallana, Milner are all very good at this having spent much of their careers out wide and Keita is obviously going to give us a completely different dimension from that position
If our front three can keep scoring at their current rate or even a rate close to it (I think we have to expect a bit of a drop-off from Salah and Firmino, but this could be compensated by a slight upturn from Mané and another quality option to share the load) I genuinely think we're beyond fine in those options. A six who is a bit tidier and a bit less injury-prone than Henderson would do more to take us up another level IMO.
The problem is as I've banged on about over these pages - finding a 6 who can do everything (which is what people are asking for) is extremely difficult - you're talking about a handful or world class players who can do everything we need defensively, with the mobility to cover the whole pitch and then people want an outstanding deep lying passer.
For all the criticism of Henderson and Can the reality is they do a lot of what we need well - the problem is people focus on what they don't do
I agree Wijnamldam isn't that suited to the 6 - he's not good enough defensively I suspect - but both him and Keita could definitely play there against the bottom 12 teams. (I mean Keita could play there in any game - you'd just want him further forward in a lot of games)
So its an opportunity cost thing - are we really going to spend a 'top player' level amount of money .. 50/60 million on a position we already have 3 players for that's actually very difficult to upgrade. I really like Jorginho but if he moves both Manchester clubs have already been linked - its likely a big bill when we our recruitment further forward won't be be cheap.
In the 8 slots - AOC's passing has been a revelation. I expected him to prosper there at the start of the season but as a ball carrier - in actual fact his passing is a huge weapon for us (not necessarily against set defences as much but his dribbling threat breaks teams down so well). He reduces our need a lot for next year.
Lallana is an under rated factor in all this. Reading between the lines it looks like part of the reason we were happy to let Phil go was having Lallana for the second half of the season - Klopp has always picked him, gushes about him etc .. if he's back for next year at last year's level we look in better shape, if not the need for another midfielder is more urgent.
I'd keep coming back to the same point - Klopp is much more interested in attacking players and players that can create impact in a game than he is in players who nullify the opposition. We've been very good defensively in the second half of the season and I expect (and its a guess) this means less resources / worry about GK and DLM and more on attacking CMs and forwards
