John Aldridge tells Liverpool to splash the cash like Manchester United and Chelsea in summer

John Aldridge has urged Liverpool to splash the cash like Manchester United and Chelsea in the summer transfer window and also "unearth" an out-and-out striker capable of scoring 20 goals in a season.

Jose Mourinho spent close to £150m that saw him sign Paul Pogba for a world-record fee last summer. Chelsea spent big to make quality additions to the squad, that has seen them sit on top of the table.

The former Reds striker wants the board to make the funds available to Jurgen Klopp in order to strengthen the squad. Aldridge also stressed that Liverpool may require a bigger squad if they qualify for Europe next season.

"There was a piece in the Echo over the weekend about Liverpool not spending the kind of money that our rivals like Manchester United and Chelsea do but we're going to have to," Aldridge wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.

"Come the summer we've got to splash the cash. If you look at the figures last summer, the outlay just more or less covered the funds raised from the players we sold which is ridiculously fantastic.

"We've got a better squad with what Jurgen has brought in but next year if we're in Europe we're going to need a fair number of players. It's not going to be tinkering with one or two, there's going to have to be a few so the money has got to be made available absolutely."

Liverpool have struggled in 2017 as they are without a league win in this calendar year. Their poor performance in the Premier League is reflected in other competitions, which saw them being knocked out of the EFL Cup and the FA Cup.

The Merseyside club side suffered a 2-0 defeat to Hull City in the last tie and the loss saw them fall out of the top four. Lack of goals from the attackers has seen Aldridge advise Klopp to bring in a quality striker in the summer.

"We need an out-and-out goalscorer. Look across the Park at Romelu Lukaku. He doesn't give you a lot outside the penalty box but hey he's scored 16 goals. That's exactly what we need," he said.

"When we had four players all scoring it was great but you need your match-winner up front. I think we've got to find one. Daniel Sturridge is not going to do it because the manager is not playing him.

"We need to unearth a 20-goal-a-season man. Tottenham have got Harry Kane. He's been through a lean spell but has come through it with flying colours and that shows his strong mental attitude to prove people wrong."