Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson has expressed his belief that the club need to sign a new striker before the start of the Premier League season.

Brendan Rodgers lost top scorer Luis Suarez to Barcelona and recently saw the transfer of Loic Remy collapse, allegedly due to issues arising from the Frenchman's medical at Melwood.

Lawrenson insists that replacing Suarez should be the main focus for the Merseyside club, but signing the right frontman may prove difficult.

He told the Liverpool Echo: "The focus now is to bring in a new striker, but that won't be easy. It's a difficult position to fill because the top ones have already been taken.

"Generally in the transfer market the strikers are normally the first ones to go. They act as a statement of intent from a club and if you take one that people rate the rest will fall into place.

"The only problem for me is say Daniel Sturridge gets injured Liverpool have no direct replacement."

Among the latest players to be linked with a move to Anfield is AC Milan's Mario Balotelli.