Jamie Redknapp urges Liverpool not to 'panic buy' after missing out on Martin Zubimendi -  as the former Reds midfielder insists Arne Slot must focus on securing a contract extension for one key star

Jamie Redknapp has urged Liverpool not to splash the cash on panic buys after missing out on Martin Zubimendi and believes it’s more important to secure the future of key players like Virgil van Dijk.

New boss Arne Slot is still waiting to land his first signing since replacing Jurgen Klopp with the high-profile pursuit of Spain midfielder Zubimendi ending with the 25-year-old choosing to stay at Real Sociedad.

It left Liverpool and Slot with a decision to make. The influence of a tempo-setting midfielder in the No6 role has long been seen with Rodri at Manchester City and Slot felt Zubimendi had all the attributes to be a key player in their title challenge.

Do they wait it out and try again for a player identified as the ideal fit – as Slot’s predecessor Klopp did for Van Dijk – or sign an inferior alternative to fill a hole?

‘You can't make a player come,’ Redknapp told Mail Sport. ‘The last thing you want to do is get a player come who is not comfortable, not happy. He’s obviously a super talent.

‘The most important thing is you don't panic now and just start splashing money everywhere and go, oh, we need to bring someone in. Don’t sign players for the sake of it, they’ve got to be better than what you’ve already got.

‘Liverpool have a really good nucleus of squad. I thought that Salah might leave and I was pleasantly surprised that he hasn’t because he's still important as he proved on the opening weekend.

‘You’re better off taking time, identifying what it is that he [Zubamendi] has got and waiting until January or even next year to buy the players you need.’

‘I think it’s almost as important now with players moving forward. Virgil van Dijk’s contract needs to be sorted out. He’s such an important player for the club.’

Van Dijk’s deal expires at the end of the season, as does those of Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the Dutchman revealed in the summer that nothing was yet ‘on the table’. The same is believed to be the case for Salah.

Slot, too, refused to be drawn on the contract situations ahead of the opening game. None of that uncertainty, however, stopped Liverpool from getting the Slot era off the winning start against Ipswich.

‘I like what I see,’ added Redknapp. ‘Slot comes across as a very sensible man. He's not trying to complicate it. He's not trying to be what Jurgen Klopp was. That’s the hardest job, to follow someone who was more than a football manager with what he meant to the players and the community. He was a unique man, he’s got so much charisma and aura about him. There’s only a few managers I have seen with that.

‘It’s going to be a different style of play under Slot, we can see that. I think they're going to take more risks playing out from the back playing into midfield. That's his way of playing.

‘But every manager needs time, and he's going to need time. It's not going to be perfect this season but you can't just have a situation like when Ferguson left and David Moyes is sacked after 51 games. You've got to give somebody the time that they deserve to implement what they need to do.’