Steve Nicol: If I was John Henry I would be very scared to give a lot of money to Brendan Rodgers

Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has expressed his concerns about whether the Reds owner John Henry will sanction funds in the January transfer window.

The Merseyside club sold their star player Luis Suarez for a reported fee of £75m. The sale of the Uruguayan international helped the Anfield outfit to bring in new faces as Brendan Rodgers spent over £120m in signing nine players in the summer.

Since the Northern Irishman took over the club in 2012, Liverpool have spent over £200m in signings. The former Reds defender claims Henry has a "tough decision to make" while handing more funds to Rodgers as he looks to strengthen the squad.

"If I was John Henry I would be very scared to give a lot of money to someone who has shown in the transfer market there have been more misses than hits," Nicol told talkSPORT.

"Of that £200million he's spent there have been only two successes – and that's Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho to a certain extent. The other 18-19 players he signed haven't kicked a ball and that's a horrible percentage when it comes to signing players."

"So if I'm John Henry I've got a really tough decision as to whether I give Rodgers any more money. He has to prove last season wasn't a fluke. Other than [Luis] Suarez, he's got the same players and is supposed to have added quality."

"So he has to prove he can get this team playing the sort of football they played last season and give Henry a reason to back him in the transfer market," he added.

Liverpool have accumulated 22 points from 17 games and are 10<sup>th in the table. Summer signing Mario Balotelli has continued to struggle as the Italian international is yet to score in the league this season.

The 18-times English champions' poor form has raised concern over Rodgers' long-term future at Liverpool. Nicol has urged the former Swansea boss to change things quickly in the second half of the season to save his Anfield job.

"Three weeks ago he looked like a man drowning and I couldn't see him coming up with a system to get Liverpool going. But he's done that, he's gone with three at the back and that's got them energised again and they are playing with a certain amount of confidence," the Reds legend explained.

"He's got until the end of the season for me. I think they will struggle to get into the top four, but they have to be close to that."

"If by the end of the season the crowd at Anfield is still quiet – which they have been recently - that may be the last straw," Nicol concluded.