For Liverpool owners FSG, the next five weeks could be crucial in shaping the destiny of Andoni Iraola’s first season as the club’s head coach.
We’re now past the midway point of the summer transfer window, and so far there have been just two senior additions at Anfield in Victor Munoz and Jeremy Jacquet – and the deal for the latter was agreed back in the winter.
As we move into August, transfer activity on Merseyside should ramp up now that the World Cup has been and gone. Actually, let us rephrease that…it must ramp up if the Reds are to have any chance of being remotely successful in the 2026/27 season.
With online games from Optibet, you can have a wager on how Liverpool will fare throughout the campaign. Right now, the mood music isn’t especially optimistic, with Iraola’s squad already being compromised by multiple injury concerns.
Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike won’t be back for the foreseeable future, while Giovanni Leoni is continuing his recovery from his horrific ACL setback. Joe Gomez and Jacquet are sidelined with minor issues, but both should return soon hopefully.
The spate of defensive injuries has laid bare the urgent need for extra bodies in that area of the squad. With Virgil van Dijk not yet back from his post-World Cup downtime, Iraola was left with the bizarre predicament of having no senior centre-backs to call upon after the pre-season win over Sunderland.
With Bradley set to be sidelined for some time yet, and Jeremie Frimpong’s injury record being far from stellar, right-back is also an area of concern (albeit that Calvin Ramsay showed encouraging signs against the Wearsiders last weekend).
Liverpool absolutely need to bring in one more centre-back, ideally one who can also play on the right. A prime example is Jules Kounde, who Barcelona are reportedly open to selling for around £55m this summer. Frankly, it seems a no-brainer for FSG to try and lure the Frenchman to Anfield.
The other position which needs addressing is the right-hand side of attack, where Federico Chiesa is the only natural senior option now that Mo Salah has departed.
The Italian is a hugely popular figure on Merseyside and a brilliant player to have in the squad, but the jury remains out on whether he can be trusted to step up and fill the void created by the Egyptian’s exit.
The pursuit of Bradley Barcola continues apace, although PSG’s ludicrous asking price of €170m means that we shouldn’t expect any transfer for him to be straightforward, and FSG must be prepared to revert to cheaper alternatives if a deal for the France international is simply unfeasible.
There’s an argument to be made that Liverpool could also do with bringing in a bespoke defensive midfielder, and possibly a centre-forward to supplement Alexander Isak while Ekitike is out, but those positions aren’t quite of the same priority as a versatile defender and a right-sided winger.
Iraola has been quite vocal about needing more depth in his squad – now is the time for the hierarchy to back him so that he isn’t going into the autumn and winter with one hand tied behind his back.
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