Jamie Redknapp urges Liverpool not to panic buy after missing out on Martin Zubimendi – as the former Reds midfielder insists Arne Slot must focus on securing a contract extension for one key star

Jamie Redknapp has urged Liverpool not to spend too much money on panic buying after missing out on Martin Zubimendi, saying it is more important to secure the futures of key players such as Virgil van Dijk.

New manager Arne Slot is still waiting for his first signing since replacing Jurgen Klopp with promising Spanish midfielder Zubimendi, but in the end the 25-year-old decided to stay at Real Sociedad.

Liverpool and Slot had a decision to make. The influence of a pace-setting midfielder in the No. 6 role has long been evident in Rodri at Manchester City and Slot felt Zubimendi had all the qualities to be a key player in their title challenge.

Do they wait and try again for a player seen as ideal – as Slot’s predecessor Klopp did for Van Dijk – or do they sign an inferior alternative to fill a gap?

“You can’t force a player to come,” Redknapp told Mail Sport. “The last thing you want to do is bring a player in who’s not comfortable, who’s not happy. He’s obviously a super talent.

Jamie Redknapp insists Liverpool must be patient in transfer market

The Reds missed out on signing their top target, Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, this summer

Arne Slot has yet to sign a player since replacing Jurgen Klopp in the Anfield hotseat

‘The most important thing is not to panic now and spend money everywhere and think: oh, we need to bring someone in. Don’t just sign players, they have to be better than what you already have.

‘Liverpool have a very good core of the squad. I thought Salah would leave and I was pleasantly surprised that he didn’t because he is still important, as he proved on the opening weekend.

‘You’re better off taking your time to assess what he (Zubamendi) has to offer and waiting until January or even next year to buy the players you need.’

“I think it’s almost as important now with players moving forward. Virgil van Dijk’s contract has to be sorted out. He’s such an important player for the club.”

Van Dijk’s deal expires at the end of the season, along with Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s, and the Dutchman revealed in the summer that nothing was ‘on the table’. The same is said to apply to Salah.

Slot also refused to be drawn by the contract situation ahead of the opening match. But that uncertainty did not stop Liverpool from capturing the Slot era with the winning start against Ipswich.

‘I like what I see,’ Redknapp added. ‘Slot comes across as a very sensible man. He doesn’t try to complicate things. He doesn’t try to be what Jurgen Klopp was. That’s the hardest task, to follow someone who was more than a football manager with what he meant to the players and the community. He was a unique man, he has so much charisma and aura around him. There are only a few managers I’ve seen with that.

Redknapp added that it should be a priority to get Virgil van Dijk to sign a new contract

The Dutch defender has less than 12 months left on his current contract with the club

“It will be a different style of play under Slot, we can see that. I think they will take more risks by playing from the back to the midfield. That is his way of playing.

‘But every manager needs time, and he will need time. It won’t be perfect this season, but you can’t just have a situation like when Ferguson left and David Moyes was sacked after 51 games. You have to give someone the time he deserves to implement what he has to do.’