Arne Slot has masterminded Liverpool’s record-equalling 20th top-flight title, but, worryingly for the rest of the Premier League, the Dutchman says his side will only get better next season – so where can the champions strengthen?
Slot may have become the first Dutch coach to win the Premier League after the Reds dismantled Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday, but it has not taken long for the Liverpool head coach to start turning his attention towards defending the title next season.
“We can definitely improve,” Slot said ominously when asked to look back on his incredible debut campaign in charge at the club. “I think we have to become even better.”
Liverpool need at least five or six players – three to go straight in the team and three to be strong backups – with still so many areas of the team to improve.
Former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher agrees, telling Sky Sports the Reds “need at least five or six players – three to go straight in the team and three to be strong back-ups – with still so many areas of the team to improve” next season.
Gary Neville heaps praise on the job that Arne Slot has done in his first season at Liverpool given the huge shoes of Jurgen Klopp that he had to fill
Having brought in just Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia – before loaning him back to the LaLiga side – and Juventus’ Federico Chiesa last summer, Slot is reportedly set to be backed in the transfer market by the club’s owners the Fenway Sports Group [FSG].
So where will the Liverpool head coach and sporting director Richard Hughes look to strengthen the team in order to try and win title No 21?
Sunday 4th May 4:00pm
Kick off 4:30pm
Jeepers ‘keepers
Alisson demonstrated with his incredible player-of-the-match display against PSG at the Parc des Princes in March that he remains arguably the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.
Alisson looks back on Liverpool’s season
However, while the Brazilian is still only 32, he only has a contract at Anfield until 2027, while the soon-to-be-arriving Mamardashvili has already made it clear he is coming to the club to challenge for a first-team spot next season.
Were Saudi clubs to reignite their interest in Alisson after he turned down a big-money approach last summer, then it will be interesting to see if Michael Edwards, CEO of Football at FSG, cashes in on both him and Caoimhin Kelleher, who is expected to leave Anfield if a suitable offer is received for the Reds No 2, in order to help fund a squad rebuild.
Major defensive shake-up?
Left-back is a priority position for Liverpool this summer after Andy Robertson’s relative drop off in form this season, with the club interested in signing Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez. However, they are not the only suitor for the Hungary international, while Ajax’s Jorrel Hato – who can play as a left-back and left-sided centre-back – is also reportedly on the Reds’ radar.
Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to shortly confirm his departure on a free transfer to Real Madrid, leaving Conor Bradley as Liverpool’s only recognised right-back.
And then there is the heart of the defence, with Carragher claiming his former club “needs a centre-back as back-up to the two [Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate] that we have.”
The situation is complicated slightly by the fact Konate has still to agree the contract extension offered to him late last year, with his current deal running out in just over 12 months’ time.
But, in an ideal world, it is understood Hughes would want to bring in a new left-footed centre-back, with Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi reportedly under consideration, while Kostas Tsimikas, Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez could all be sold to help increase Slot’s summer transfer budget.
Support for Gravenberch
While left-back is a key area for Liverpool this summer, along with a striker and a wide forward, if they are successful with those positions, they will then look to move on to a new central midfielder.
This is a position Slot identified as needing strengthening on his arrival last summer, only for the club to miss out on their first-choice target when Spain holding midfielder Martin Zubimendi turned down a move to Anfield in order to stay at Real Sociedad this season.
That late change of heart may have actually been a blessing in disguise for Slot, who used Ryan Gravenberch in the role instead with huge success.
Carragher, however, still thinks Liverpool need to strengthen in this area, telling March’s The Overlap Fan Debate: “I don’t think he [Slot] has any time for four or five players in that squad. I can accept that this season as this isn’t really his squad, but next season I’m sure he’ll bring players in. He needs a centre midfielder to replace Endo, someone younger.”
And the Reds are reportedly pondering a summer move for Crystal Palace’s impressive young England defensive midfielder Adam Wharton, while a more attacking option could be Lyon’s Rayan Cherki, with the club understood to be open to letting Harvey Elliott leave.
‘Lack of pace in the attack is glaring’
As mentioned, Hughes and Edwards will definitely target a new striker and a wide forward next season after Darwin Nunez’s much-publicised travails in front of goal and Diogo Jota’s continued injury struggles this campaign, with the former expected to leave after the Reds turned down a big-money offer for his services from the Saudi Pro-League in January.
Luis Diaz is one of a number of players to have been energised under Slot this campaign, but with the 28-year-old’s contract expiring in the summer of 2027 and Barcelona reportedly keen on signing the forward, the club must decide whether to hand the Colombian a new bumper deal as he is still on the same terms from when signing in January 2022, or to cash in.
“The lack of pace in the team is glaring in the attack,” said Carragher, with Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo reportedly under serious consideration to be Mohamed Salah’s long-term replacement on the righthand side of the attack, while Brighton’s Joao Pedro is also believed to have admirers at Anfield.
“The other attackers [apart from Salah] Liverpool have got are good players, not great players. Liverpool need to buy two attackers. Not squad players, but players to play alongside Salah.”
