Liverpool: Jamie Carragher admits advising Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne to join Reds

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has admitted that he told Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne to join the Merseyside club ahead of next season.

According to Sky Sports, the Reds are close to sealing a £12.5m ($19.6m) deal for the Saints defender, making him their sixth signing during the summer transfer window. He will join James Milner, Adam Bogdan, Danny Ings, Joe Gomez and Roberto Firmino, who have all been confirmed by the Anfield club.

Brendan Rodgers had made signing a right-back a priority ahead of next season after the club released Glen Johnson, who was out of contract at the club.

Despite having Javier Manquillo and Andre Wisdom on the books, the former Swansea City manager was keen to sign an experienced player as they look to get back into the top four and qualify for the Champions League next season.

"I saw Nathaniel Clyne at St Mary's after a game last season & told him to sign for Lfc he took my advice!" Carragher tweeted, after various reports confirmed the deal.

The former Reds defender has praised the club for adding yet another quality signing close on the heels of landing Brazilian international Firmino for £29m ($45.5m), according to BBC Sport. However, he indicated that the transfer business is not yet done, as he feels that the club still need to sign a quality striker ahead of next season.

"I think it's another good signing for the club to go along with the other business already done. The early deals were a couple of squad players & also James Milner who are all an improvement on what's currently in the squad," the 37-year-old former defender wrote on sports social networking site Kicca.

"The last week has seen the signings of Clyne & Firmino which will improve the team more than the squad & that's what costs the big money, credit to the club for getting these deals done early as every club wants to do that but few do. Another striker still needed though!" he added.

Manchester United were also interested in signing the Southampton defender, according to ESPN, as Louis van Gaal continues his search for a right-sided defender to challenge Antonio Valencia for a first-team spot. According to the report, the manager rekindled his interest in Clyne after Dani Alves committed his future to Barcelona.