No matter what you may think of Arne Slot’s two seasons in charge of Liverpool, there is no doubt that the Dutchman has imposed his stamp on the team. Slot was appointed as the Reds’ manager in the summer of 2024 and instantly won the hearts of the Anfield faithful by winning a Premier League title in his first season.
He followed that up last summer by making wholesale changes, allowing a plethora of players to leave - some of whom were crucial in the title success - before bringing in high profile players like Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. That major rebuild has led to considerable growing pains throughout this season, with Liverpool currently sitting outside of the Champions League qualification places.
Club legend Mohamed Salah has already been confirmed as one of the first departures this summer, with the Egyptian announcing he will depart at the end of this season, having openly voiced his grievances with Slot in the media.
Now, the ECHO takes a look at the 13 former Reds players who have left during Slot’s tenure and how they are faring in their new surroundings.
Luis Diaz has been in sensational form since his £33.5m move to Bayern Munich last summer. The Colombian winger has added a clinical edge to his game under Vincent Kompany, meaning he is currently playing the best football of his career alongside Harry Kane.
Diaz has managed an impressive 22 goals and 18 assists in 38 games in all competitions - a far greater tally than he ever managed on Merseyside.
Another player who has been thriving in Germany is Jarell Quansah. He left Liverpool in search of more game time and, after Bayer Leverkusen’s bumpy start to the season, the 23-year-old has become a standout defender in the Bundesliga.
The Reds academy product has played 38 games this season, impressing enough to earn his England senior debut under Thomas Tuchel in November. Liverpool have perhaps been left to rue letting Quansah leave due to a lack of defensive depth this season.
Chaos seems to follow Darwin Nunez wherever he goes. The Uruguayan never reached his lofty potential in a Liverpool shirt and was sold for £46m last summer to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.
But after scoring six times in 17 appearances, the 26-year-old was brutally snubbed in February as Al-Hilal signed Karim Benzema as his replacement. Nunez was subsequently axed from the team’s domestic squad list, meaning he can only play in the Asian Champions League as he looks to end his Middle Eastern nightmare this summer.
Much like Quansah, Gannon Doak was always going to find more regular playing time away from Merseyside. Sadly, things haven’t quite worked out for the 20-year-old winger at Bournemouth.
His only start for the Cherries this season has come in the League Cup and he’s played fewer than 200 minutes in all competitions. The Scot’s season went from bad to worse when he suffered a long-term hamstring injury in November, which he has only recently recovered from.
The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper was far too talented to remain a No.2 goalkeeper and joined Brentford last June for £12.5m. Kelleher is now earning his deserved game time in west London with nearly 3,000 minutes played this season.
The jury remains out on whether Giorgi Mamardashvili has been an upgrade as Alisson Becker’s back-up, while Kelleher has proved his worth for the high-flying Bees.
The most high-profile Anfield departure last summer was Trent Alexander-Arnold as the boyhood Reds fan decided to join Real Madrid at the end of his contract. The decision caused huge backlash as the Liverpool faithful couldn’t understand his reasoning and booed him.
The right-back has continued to divide pundits and fans in the Spanish capital. After a slow start, the 27-year-old endured a hamstring injury which kept him out for six weeks in September, before suffering a muscle tear in December. He has only recently started to become a regular again, though he’s managed just three assists this season and was snubbed by England boss Tuchel for the recent international break.
One player who has clearly been a success since leaving Liverpool is Tyler Morton. The 23-year-old midfielder has earned plaudits thanks to his displays for Lyon this season, managing 37 appearances and five goal involvements.
His transfer value has doubled since the Reds sold him for £15m, with the likes of Tottenham and Nottingham Forest reportedly interested in his signature.
Despite his cult hero status at Anfield, no-nonsense defender Nat Phillips was never going to become a mainstay of Liverpool’s backline under Slot, given his obvious limitations. He finally left on a permanent basis after six loan stints away, signing for West Bromwich Albion in June 2025.
The 29-year-old has been a key part of the Albion defence this season, making 35 Championship appearances as they try to avoid relegation.
Though Harvey Elliott’s exit was on loan, the obligation-to-buy clause Liverpool negotiated with Aston Villa earns the playmaker a spot on this list. But the very fact Unai Emery refuses to play him in order to not trigger that same clause demonstrates how badly his Villa stint has gone.
Emery doesn’t seem to fancy the player at all. Since making four cameos in the first six games of the season, Elliott has made just one 13-minute appearance against Brentford, often being left out of the matchday squad entirely. It is likely that he will not play at Anfield nor Villa Park next season.
Brazilian goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga had to endure several rogue loan moves after joining Liverpool in 2020. The 23-year-old was sent out to gain experience at Macclesfield, St Patrick’s Athletic and Livingston, eventually returning to Fluminense on a permanent basis in January 2025. He is yet to play for his boyhood club this season.
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Portuguese winger Fabio Carvalho was one of the first players Slot axed after taking over from Jurgen Klopp. He was sold to Brentford for £27.5m in August 2024.
Despite rarely receiving minutes, the 23-year-old was in decent form this season, scoring three goals in nine matches. However, his campaign came to a heartbreaking end in November, when he suffered an ACL injury in training.
“He was open, easy to speak to. We’re both Dutch, so we are very direct. I like that,” Van den Berg told The Guardian about his relationship with Slot, who he’d previously trained under at PEC Zwolle. “He told me, ‘You’re not going to start but I believe if you stay you will get a chance in the future to start.’”
Things didn’t end up working out and the defender also signed for Brentford in a £25m deal in 2024. The 24-year-old has shown his impressive ability for the Bees until now, making 32 appearances this season, mainly as a starter, for the seventh-placed side.
James Norris was Liverpool’s only permanent departure in January. The 22-year-old defender signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club Shelbourne last year in February but joined the side permanently on January 1 of this year.
