Liverpool transfer audit: The ECHO runs the rule over the Reds' summer business and looks at what might be needed in January
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 09: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Cody Gakpo of Liverpool holds off Lamine Camara of AS Monaco during the during the pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and AS Monaco at Anfield on August 09, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Cody Gakpo of Liverpool holds off Lamine Camara of Monaco during the during the pre-season friendly at Anfield - the two could potentially become team-mates before long (Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
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Despite signing just three players permanently during the summer, Liverpool ended the transfer window as the biggest net spenders in the Premier League. The bulk of that, of course, was down to Bradley Barcola's £123m move from Paris Saint-Germain, which concluded a summer-long pursuit of the France international in late August.
Victor Munoz, the Spain World Cup winner, was brought in when his £34.5m release clause at Osasuna was triggered and he followed [Jeremy Jacquet](http://Jeremy Jacquet) through the door, whose signature was captured in January when a £60m agreement with Rennes was struck.
Ronald Araujo was the eldest of the four-man list, with the 27-year-old joining on loan from Barcelona in August.
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And with the international break now into its third and final week, the ECHO have taken a transfer audit over the work done and look at where else might be need to be strengthened when the January window rolls around.
The big hit
Jacquet has so far proven to be the big hit at Anfield from the crop of summer signings. The 21-year-old centre-back has now established himself as a senior France international on the back of his early Liverpool form, earning the praise of new boss Zinedine Zidane, who said after Friday's 1-1 draw with Italy: "Very good. Very, very good. Brave. He wasn’t afraid to come out a long way. Very good in the duels. He was, once again, very good. I said it four times."
Jacquet's partnership with Virgil van Dijk has been a key reason behind Liverpool's three straight Premier League clean sheets prior to the international break. And after the last of them, achieved in a 1-0 win at Bournemouth, captain Van Dijk said of his younger partner: "He has had an excellent start, but we are only in September.
"I want him to keep working and keep learning. I am sure he will. There is obviously a lot of praise and rightly so, but I know how it works when you play a game not at the standards you have set. So let's just stay calm, keep working, and try and stay important for us like he was today again."
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 09: Jeremy Jacquet of Liverpool celebrates during the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Liverpool FC and Atletico de Madrid at Anfield on September 09, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Jeremy Jacquet has impressed so far this season for Liverpool and France (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
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Jacquet's formative days as a midfielder who idolised Paul Pogba mean he is confident and capable in possession. It has been notable how assured the defender looks when he is wrapping passes into midfield and breaking lines with some of his forages forward.
It is early days, as Van Dijk says, but Jacquet looks like he will be an excellent addition to the Liverpool ranks.
An honourable mention also has to go to Araujo, who has played the right-back role like the centre-half that he is, ensuring few wingers get past him down that side of the pitch.
Araujo may well view himself as a centre-back-by-trade but he has certainly helped as something of a makeshift full-back, playing his part in the team that has shut out Ipswich Town, Fulham and Bournemouth, prior to the break.
Time and patience needed for Barcola
Of course, at £123m there has been so much fanfare accompanying Barcola's arrival at Anfield. The electric star was an important part of a PSG squad that won back-to-back Champions League but his first few weeks as a Reds player have been relatively quiet.
There have been glimpses of his searing speed and flashes of the deft touch he has, but he has been gradually easing into things so far having featured for just 248 minutes so far.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 09: Bradley Barcola of Liverpool misses a shot during the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Liverpool FC and Atletico de Madrid at Anfield on September 09, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Bradley Barcola goes desperately close to marking his first appearance for Liverpool at Anfield with a goal in the 2-1 Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid (Image: Jan Kruger - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
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Having barely played for PSG during the pre-season period while his move from the French capital to Merseyside was thrashed out, it might take a bit more time before Barcola has enough of a sample size to judge.
"It’s not an easy place to start, and he didn’t ask for his price tag, but it’s on his back," Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who was Barcola's France Under-21s boss, said recently. "We all know that one-v-one, he is deadly, and he has pace.
"The only thing he needs to work on is his finishing, but that’s normal. If you see my finishing when I was 19 or 20 compared to the end of my career, it was so different. I became so much more sure about my game."
The January question
Liverpool took the decision not to add to their midfield in the summer, despite Curtis Jones leaving for Inter in a £30m deal.
It's unclear how much importance, if any, the 38% sale of the club by owners Fenway Sports Group to Amit Bhatia's 1892 Holdings consortium had on recruitment as it rumbled on through to August.
But the Reds opted against signing a replacement for Jones, instead insisting that Trey Nyoni was capable of stepping up. The youngster has featured for just 38 Premier League minutes so far, however.
Lamine Camara of Monaco has admirers at Anfield and it was intriguing to note how his deadline move to Chelsea fell through, leaving the Londoners furious at the time.
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A £47m agreement had been struck on September 1 between Monaco and Chelsea only for the Premier League club to be left angered by the Ligue 1 side's decision to call it all off at the 11th hour.
It's understood Monaco were accused of being "deeply unprofessional" by the Stamford Bridge over the way the transfer played out at the start of last month and that has seemingly left the door ajar for Liverpool, should they decide to pursue a move in the winter window.
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