Image Credits: Imago Images
Arne Slot’s second season at Liverpool has been one of reflection and not so much celebration., with Paul Joyce now providing the latest on the summer transfer window.
After a stunning debut campaign that set the bar almost impossibly high, this term exposed some of the squad’s limitations in a way that could not be ignored – particularly out wide, where Liverpool too often lacked the cutting edge and unpredictability that the Premier League demands.
It appears those concerns are already being acted upon behind the scenes.
Paul Joyce of the Times has confirmed that the likes of Yan Diomande and Bradley Barcola are among the options on the summer window shortlist at Anfield:
“Internally, Liverpool remain in support of Slot and are planning another summer of signings to correct the faults that remain evident after last summer’s £450million spending spree,” he wrote.
“Liverpool will prioritise the signing of wingers to improve performances, with RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande and Bradley Barcola of Paris Saint-Germain among the many wide men that have been assessed.”
It makes a lot of sense for the Anfield club to priotise wide attackers. Cody Gakpo has managed just seven goals and five assists in 34 Premier League games this campaign.
Salah himself, in what has been a fractured final season at the club, has scored just seven and set up six in 25 league appearances. Liverpool have also struggled tactically against sides that sit in a low block, with the lack of invention painfully evident in many games this term.
Liverpool’s interest in Yan Diomande one to watch, although the player himself played down a transfer in an interview this week, saying:
“My contract here is until 2030, so I have four more years.”
“What’s going to happen afterwards? I don’t know. I am a Leipzig player. I will never forget this opportunity. It’s not only about playing football, but the club helped me a lot off the pitch. The media only sees me on the pitch, but the club helped me a lot with my family and my mom,” Diomande said.
“The only thing I can do for them is to give everything on the pitch and this is what I’m trying to do every day.”