Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp must sign special players to inspire title charge says John Barnes

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp cannot win the club's first Premier League title since 1990 with the current resources available to him and has been urged to sign "special players" in order to bring the biggest prize in English football back to Anfield. Former midfielder John Barnes says the Reds need to splash out on big wages in order to contest for a title that has evaded them for three decades.

Klopp moves to Merseyside having won two Bundesliga titles and reached the 2013 Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund, with the German having among the best reputations of any manager in Europe. However, with the club tenth in the Premier League and already eight points behind leaders Manchester City, there is plenty of work to do to recover from the difficult start made under former boss Brendan Rodgers.

The ex-Mainz boss is keen to assess his current squad before making plans to spend in the January transfer window, though Liverpool's recent history suggests Klopp will be financially backed. Barnes has urged the new manager to make a series of signings, which are required to turn the club into title contenders again.

"Jurgen Klopp is a great manager but we'll have to give him time to create a team," he told Talksport. "Is this Liverpool team good enough to win the league as it stands? No it's not.

"He can make an instant impact. What we know from the first three games of the season is that this Liverpool team has a lot of energy, they're fit, strong and physical. Apart from Coutinho, who gives us that star quality in terms of invention and flair, we probably don't have the quality of other big teams, but we're a very powerful team, and Klopp likes powerful teams.

"But are we going to be able to complete with Manchester City and Chelsea with the players we have now? If he keeps this squad for the next four years, do we think this team is good enough to challenge for the league? I think it is good enough for the top four, but to win the league we need special players. In the old days managers attracted players, but now salaries attract players.

"Jurgen Klopp is a big name, but can we say that any of the superstars he knows will come to Liverpool because of Klopp, if they are also approached by the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona or other big teams who can pay higher wages? I don't think so.

"We're not able to get the best players in the world, we don't pay those salaries so they won't come to Liverpool. But at the moment what we need is for us to be competitive, that's all we can ask for."