Liverpool told to bring back former hero after Salah and Robertson exits

That's according to former Reds striker Emile Heskey, who wouldn't be averse to bringing recently retired James Milner back into the fold, in an attempt to inject fresh authority.

Liverpool had already seen one their leadership group depart 12 months ago when Trent Alexander-Arnold made the switch to Real Madrid and now vice-captain Robertson and club legend Salah have followed him out of the Anfield exit.

It leaves the Reds with a vacuum of authoritative figures to fill as the club tries to recover from what was a hugely disappointing season.

A change has already occurred in the dugout, with Arne Slot relieved of his duties and replaced by Andoni Iraola, but the new Spanish head coach must quickly establish who the leaders are in the squad he is inheriting, something that concerns Heskey.

Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, who are offering New Customers 14/1 on England to win the World Cup, he said: "You just hope that another player is ready to step into Robertson’s place.

"I think [Dominik] Szoboszlai showed a little bit of that as a leader last season. You've still got Virgil [van Dijk] there anyway, so you just hope that others can step up and really become those leaders. Mo has gone, Robbo has gone,

"Milner went. All these players were huge characters and big leaders in the group who made sure they put pressure on the players to perform.

"And they didn't just do it on the pitch; they did it in training first, because you have to set the standard in training before you do it in a match.

"I think it would be good to get Milner back, but again, it's up to the management. You can't just throw ex-players in there simply because of who they are.

"There are definitely roles for ex-players within the system because they keep the current squad on their toes. Even if they are just in a coaching role, their presence alone demands respect and keeps standards high."

Milner, who played 332 games for Liverpool over eight seasons despite joining when he was 29, recently retired from playing football at the age of 40 after becoming the Premier League's all-time record appearance holder with 658 appearances.

He won three Premier League titles during his career, including one for the Reds as well as the Champions League in 2019 under Jurgen Klopp.