EXCLUSIVE: Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock discusses Bradley Barcola's arrival, how the Reds can replace Mohamed Salah, and the transfer risks that they took this summer
Bradley Barcola and Victor Munoz.
Bradley Barcola and Victor Munoz.(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool has left itself short in a couple of key areas of the pitch when it comes to the summer transfer activity that it undertook this summer.
That is the view of the former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock, who was speaking ahead of Andoni Iraola's side beating Ipswich. He is unconvinced by the lack of a natural right winger in the squad, despite some positive early signs from Victor Munoz, with the pundit worried about a limited amount of depth in other positions too.
"If Bradley Barcola comes in and scores six goals and gets a few assists in his first 10 games, then it would be vitally important because Liverpool would be in a better position," Warnock explained to Liverpool.com.
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"If he comes in and stutters, and Liverpool are still conceding goals, I would look at it, and a lot of fans would too, and say ‘why haven’t they gone and signed a holding midfielder instead, and why haven’t Liverpool strengthened in the full-back positions, and why didn’t they sign a replacement for Mohamed Salah?’
"It will be interesting to see how it plays out because, I do think he’s an upgrade on Cody Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha, so I understand why they have brought him in, but the imbalance on the left-hand side just doesn’t make sense to me.
"I don’t know how they haven’t followed through with a plan to buy a player from the point at which Salah told the club he was going to leave a year ago is absolutely beyond me."
On paper, it looks glaring that Liverpool is lacking a right-back, with Jeremie Frimpong so far unconvincing and Conor Bradley sidelined with a long-term injury. But the Reds looked good in Friday night's clash at Ipswich, and Ronald Araujo impressed there.
KIRKBY, ENGLAND - AUGUST 21: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Andoni Iraola head coach of Liverpool during a press conference at AXA Training Centre on August 21, 2026 in Kirkby, England. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola speaking during a press conference(Image: Getty Images)
Another big squad issue is the lack of a natural left-footer in attack who can cut inside from the right flank like Salah used to, with the left-wingers set to have to step across and deputize.
"You look at modern-day wingers now and they all want to drift inside and cut onto that stronger foot because it opens the pitch up for them," Warnock continued.
"When you play on the right as a right-footer, it becomes easier for a defender to defend against you, and it also makes it easier for the center-half to stay in his position with the full-back, because he doesn’t have to come out and engage.
"He knows the winger is going to go down that right-hand side and look to cross the ball. So for him, he has less work to do. Often when a winger cuts inside the centre-backs will get drawn out of position and that’s where the problems start.
"I am a little bit stuck on how Liverpool are going to go about this right-wing position, because even Victor Munoz doesn’t want to be the inverted player, he’d prefer to go down the right-hand side. So, if you gave Munoz his opportunity, he’d probably prefer to play off the left.
"I still think Munoz is quite lightweight as well, though I think he had a decent enough game against Nottingham Forest, but a lot was made about his performance purely because of his goal, whereas at times I thought he lacked a bit of quality."
Against Ipswich, Munoz was excellent in patches, albeit with more work to do to turn that into a full 90-minute performance.
And even with some elements of the team missing, Liverpool will be expected to challenge for silverware quickly. Iraola will have to get to grips with managing many more games than he has been used to.
"The aim has to be getting Champions League football — anything less is deemed as a failure," Warnock, speaking on behalf of Gambler Media, continues.
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"However, you can only work with the tools that you’ve got, and Iraola has said he needs and wants more players through the door, and if he doesn’t get given that, he’s going to underperform.
"I love his style of managing and I do think he’ll find solutions and I think he’ll have to find solutions. But the fans won’t accept a similar situation to last year where you switch things up on the pitch and performances still aren’t great.
"Everyone understands last year’s situation with Dominik Szoboslai playing right-back for example, and that was purely because of injuries.
"But even after having the opportunities to sign players in this transfer window, they are still light in midfield. The fans won’t accept that for another year."