EXCLUSIVE: Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith on why Andoni Iraola will get more from the Liverpool roster next season, with the World Cup potentially helping him do so
16:58, 20 Jun 2026
New Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola.
New Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola.(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool has made a promising start to its summer transfer business by snapping up the Spanish winger Victor Munoz for a fee of around $46 million (£35 million), but there is more work still to be done.
Adding more depth to Andoni Iraola's ranks simply has to be a priority, with even more speed and numbers out wide a must. Yan Diomande of RB Leipzig, of course, is a leading target, with Liverpool having made clear to his current employer that it would be willing to offer a package approaching €100 million ($115 million/£85 million).
And the Ivory Coast star appears to have all the right attributes to make it at the very top level of the game, even though he is only 19 and has only been in the Bundesliga for one season.
"Diomande is one of those wingers that it looks to me like his first instinct is to take on his man," Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith told Liverpool.com this week.
"And there aren't so many of that type of player around these days. Everybody looks to pass sideways. So listen, big shoes to fill. If you're playing on the right side of the attack for Liverpool, it'd be big for anybody (to replace Mohamed Salah).
"He's an up-and-coming youngster, done well at Leipzig, hasn't he? And did well the other night on the biggest stage as well, which shows you something about his temperament. So it looks like on the face of it, it would be a good signing for Liverpool."
In addition to making more new signings, Liverpool will also have to get more out of the players that it already has. Iraola will be key to unlocking the likes of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, for instance.
Liverpool duo Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz
Liverpool duo Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz(Image: Getty Images)
"I think there's every chance of them improving," Smith says. "Isak obviously had the injury, and all the stuff beforehand as well at Newcastle. So it just disrupted his season. We saw in glimpses his abilities.
"And Wirtz's second season, he'll be hoping to settle down. If he can have a really good World Cup, started well and he's got a manager there in Iraola, I think, that could bring the best out of him.
"He is a manager that loves using number 10s. So both those players will be excited about the new gaffer coming in, and both should give the team a big boost."
Iraola plays the exact kind of style that should suit both players. And for Wirtz, with a year under his belt in the Premier League, should be more suited to the English game.
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Isak and Wirtz won't be the only ones ready to improve, either. This week, some pundits have suggested that Jeremie Frimpong could even depart for Chelsea, where he could link up with his old boss, Xabi Alonso.
That seems highly unlikely, but the former Manchester City youth prospect has much scope for improving too.
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"Frimpong, there's more to come from him in the Liverpool shirt in his second season," Smith, speaking on behalf of Best Betting Sites, says.
"So there'll be plenty of comings and goings with new managers coming into clubs, whether Alonso would want to take him. Who knows? He's got some building to do there at Stamford Bridge in terms of his team. So we'll see on that."