Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola has begun to shape his squad since replacing Arne Slot in May, following a fifth-place finish in the Premier League last season.
The summer transfer window brought the club’s highest net spend in England’s top flight, despite a relatively short list of new arrivals.
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Bradley Barcola joined from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth £106 million guaranteed, rising to £123 million with add-ons, making him the second-most expensive signing in Liverpool’s history.
The France international signed a five-year contract and took the number 29 shirt, arriving to help fill the gap left by Mohamed Salah, who departed for Trabzonspor after nine seasons at Anfield.
Victor Munoz arrived from Osasuna for a fee in the region of £34.5 million, signing a six-year deal after helping Spain at the World Cup.
Jeremy Jacquet’s move from Rennes, agreed back in January, was finally completed on July 1 in a deal worth up to £60 million, while Ronald Araujo joined on a season-long loan from Barcelona, with an option to make the move permanent for £47.14 million next summer.
Liverpool’s business out of the club was far smaller.
Curtis Jones left for Inter Milan in a £30 million deal that included a 10 per cent sell-on clause, and Stefan Bajcetic returned to boyhood club Celta Vigo for around £1 million, with both players departing having a year still to run on their contracts.
According to Sky Sports, Liverpool finished the window with the highest net spend of any Premier League club, at £219.4 million, ahead of Ipswich Town, Tottenham and Hull City.
Their gross outlay of roughly £250 million ranked only sixth in the division, reflecting how little the Reds recouped in sales.
Central midfield and right-back remain areas many observers feel were left unaddressed.
Iraola has already dropped a hint that departures could follow in January, leaving Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo out of Liverpool’s Champions League squad for the group phase.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Iraola addressed the prospect of squad changes in the winter window directly.
“I think now is not a moment to look backwards to the market,” he said. “When January market opens we will see where we are.”
The Spaniard pointed instead to the quality already at his disposal.
“I think we have very good players,” Iraola said. “I think we have a good squad, and now is the moment of us, you know, finding the balance, finding the right combination so everyone can look even better than the player he is.”
He placed the emphasis on collective performance rather than individual recruitment.
“I think we have to – it’s how the team has to play well collectively, and then everyone will look better,” Iraola said.
“If we are not well-drilled, if the timings are not there, if everyone looks worse than it is, and it’s opposite.”
He added that responsibility extends across the group rather than resting solely on new arrivals. “Everyone has to add a little bit, because we need to do our teammates, our players look better,” Andoni Iraola said.
The comments suggest Liverpool’s January business will depend on how the team develops between now and the turn of the year, rather than being decided in advance.
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