Liverpool’s output from their wingers has been one of the team’s biggest problems this season, but Arne Slot doesn’t think signing new players is necessarily the answer.
The drop-off Mo Salah‘s form, from arguably the world’s best to an attacker with just five league goals this season, has been severely detrimental to the side.
Cody Gakpo‘s incredibly poor form and inability to link up with his new left-back teammate, Milos Kerkez, have also been a massive issue.
Most supporters are in agreement that the Reds need new wingers, either from the transfer market or the academy – Rio Ngumoha, basically.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Wednesday, December 3, 2025: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah replaces Cody Gakpo at half time during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Sunderland AFC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Slot doesn’t think swapping out the wingers would necessarily signal an instant improvement, however.
“It’s not only about that individual,” the head coach explained to media including the Liverpool Echo.
“If we don’t generate enough from the sides then maybe we don’t switch the ball fast enough, we don’t bring them into enough open situations to improve these players.
“We have of course a 17-year-old player (Ngumoha) who is improving more and more and more. It’s not always the transfer market; the answer is also the training ground and trying to improve that part.
“But again, show me which teams are doing that so much better than us in the Premier League.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, January 31, 2026: Liverpool's Cody Gakpo reacts after missing a chance during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Newcastle United FC at Anfield. Liverpool won 4-1. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“I can show you one in La Liga where Lamine Yamal is playing, but I didn’t see a lot of chances coming from there (out wide) from the games I watched on Wednesday.
“It’s also due to the fact there are 10 big athletes who are really fast defending in and around the box.
“It’s the hardest position to play in current football, being a winger, because there are so limited spaces and the players you face are so good.”
Among the criticisms levelled at Liverpool and their recruitment over the summer is that they haven’t added enough pace to the attack.
This has led to the rapid Jeremie Frimpong being deployed as a right-midfielder/winger from the start on four occasions this season, despite being more of a full-back by trade.
Salah & Gakpo: Per 90 Stats (Premier League)
Player & Season Goals per 90 Assists per 90 Total G/A per 90
Mohamed Salah (24/25) 0.77 0.48 1.25
Mohamed Salah (25/26) 0.25 0.30 0.55
Cody Gakpo (24/25) 0.46 0.19 0.65
Cody Gakpo (25/26) 0.27 0.14 0.41
* Premier League stats only. 2025/26 data accurate up to March 6, 2026. Data via Opta.
Slot thinks that Frimpong’s ability to beat a man is becoming the exception to the rule, saying: “Maybe it has nothing to do with it but back in the day, there was right-footer on the right and a left-footer on the left.
“Why? Because in that era you could go on the outside and cross it in, but everyone is so fast now.
“Jeremie sometimes tries, especially at the end of the game when other teams are tired he succeeds with it, but at the beginning it is hard.
“Against these defenders, that’s why you only see left-footers on the right and right-footers on the left, because on the outside in this physique, it’s getting harder and harder and more and more difficult.
“Jeremie is maybe one of the exceptions that can go on the outside, then you have to be incredibly fast. In the old days it was much more possible as they defended further away from the man.”
Yan Diomande “watched extensively” by Liverpool
3DDK707 Marrakesh, Marocco. 31st Dec, 2025. December 31 2025: Yan Diomande of Ivory Coast gestures during a 2025 AFCON Africa Cup of Nations game, Gabon vs Ivory Coast, at Marrakesh stadium, Marrakesh, Marocco. Ulrik Pedersen/CSM/Sipa USA (Credit Image: © Ulrik Pedersen/Cal Sport Media/Sipa USA) Credit: Sipa US/Alamy Live News
While Slot may insist that signing new wingers wouldn’t be an easy fix, Liverpool are still being linked with wide attackers.
RB Leipzig’s breakout forward Yan Diomande has been the most talked about, with Merseyside journalist David Lynch providing the latest line on the 19-year-old.
The Cote d’Ivoire international “has been watched extensively ahead of a summer,” according to Lynch on his Substack, a claim that tallies with other reports from the Bundesliga.
Sky Germany‘s Florian Plettenberg claims that Liverpool are targeting Diomande, with a move for Bayern Munich‘s Michael Olise seen as “completely unrealistic.”
While Slot there is some truth to Slot’s claims that changing the wingers wouldn’t necessarily bring about instant success, it would be hard to watch Liverpool and think that a fresh injection of energy on the flanks wouldn’t help the team.