Sport
Are Liverpool ready for the start of the new Premier League season?
Liverpool needed a change. It was clear towards the end of last season that the Anfield outfit needed to take a new direction and the club was quick to sack Arne Slot and replace him with Andoni Iraola. Beyond that, though, Liverpool have been slow to overhaul their squad ahead of the 2026/27 season.
Mohamed Salah hasn’t been replaced. When the Egyptian left Liverpool at the end of last season, most assumed the club would move swiftly to land a successor. Yan Diomande was widely reported to be the Reds’ first choice to replace Salah. The Ivorian ultimately joined Real Madrid for a huge transfer fee of £120m.
Andy Robertson also left Liverpool in the summer, but no replacement left back has arrived in his place. Nor has a new centre back been signed on a permanent basis with only Ronald Araujo arriving on loan from Barcelona for the 2026/27 campaign. Iraola has raised concerns over the lack of defensive options.
The lack of depth at the back was exposed further when Joe Gomez went down with an injury during a pre-season match against Sunderland. Not only is Gomez a proven option in central defence, he was rotated in and out of the Liverpool lineup at right back over the course of last season.
There are questions over the midfield unit as well. Last season, Liverpool’s backline was left exposed by the lack of protection from the players in front of them. Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister both struggled for top form and were guilty of allowing their physical levels to drop.
In the forward line, the picture isn’t much clearer. Liverpool have talent in this area, as they do in most areas of their squad, but it’s not yet clear how Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak will play together in the same lineup with the former out injured and the latter still scrambling for his best form since joining from Newcastle United a year ago.
Cody Gakpo could be on his way out of Anfield before the transfer window closes if recent reporting is to be believed. Tottenham Hotspur are interested in the Dutch forward who hasn’t always lived up to the billing he had when he arrived from PSV following the 2022 World Cup.
Victor Munoz has joined from Osasuna while Jeremy Jacquet arrived from Rennes after a deal for the signing of the young central defender was reached earlier this year. Jacquet has made a good impression in pre-season, as has Giovanni Leoni who didn’t feature last season due to injury. Iraola still has a lot of talent to work with.
Nonetheless, there is a sense that Liverpool aren’t ready for the start of the new season when supporters will expect them to challenge for major titles and trophies. Iraola has spoken about his team’s inability to play at full throttle for 90 minutes in matches, pointing to a lack of training and playing intensity from his predecessor.
“I think we are better than we were last week,” said Iraola when asked about Liverpool’s physical levels in a pre-season match against Como. Still, I hope next week we are better than we were today. It’s normal but the first halves are still better than the second halves. At the end, we need training, we need to train together.”
Off the pitch, there has been plenty of activity at Anfield this summer with 30% of Liverpool sold to a consortium including Jeff Bezos last week. On the pitch, though, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Iraola might still be able to reshape the Reds in his own image, but he hasn’t been given a lot of help so far.
