How does Liverpool improve on a title-winning side? That’s the question Arne Slot and his recruitment team must answer this summer, and he has been handed some advice.
On one hand, you’d assume that no more than tweaks are necessary, with Liverpool so far ahead of its competition in the Premier League. Even the Champions League exit was on penalties, at the hands of the side now favorite to win the final.
But Slot will be expected to make a significant splash in the transfer market. After only signing Federico Chiesa and Giorgi Mamardashvili in his first summer, another quiet window would be a concern.
It is up to Liverpool to reconcile these two truths. The departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold adds more weight to the case for recruitment, although the futures of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have at least been secured.
Left-back looks like an easy win in terms of strengthening the squad. Andy Robertson certainly still has the quality to fight for a starting spot, but is clearly in need of some better competition from someone who could ultimately take over.
Improving elsewhere will require some bigger decisions. Slot will need to somewhat dismantle his attack if he wants to make it stronger.
The most likely move is through the middle, where Darwin Nunez is surely set to leave. But Slot has been using Luis Diaz there instead to pretty good effect, so any signing would need to be a good one to represent a genuine upgrade.
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Glen Johnson has warned Liverpool against pointless additions. He has name-checked three players who he thinks would be poor buys. Benjamin Sesko doesn’t really excite me enough to justify paying the big bucks for him,” Johnson told TG Casino. “I’d say the same about Liam Delap and Ollie Watkins too.
“I never think signing someone for the sake of it is a good idea unless you think they’re worth it, and none of those names are for me. You have to think about how these players will fit into your system and I don’t think there’s many strikers on the market that would suit what Arne Slot is looking for.”
Saying these signings would be “for the sake of it” is a little harsh, but Johnson has the makings of a point. He reserved some praise for the “fantastic” Diaz, and it’s true that the existing players at Slot’s disposal set a high bar for any signings.
Of the trio, Watkins probably has the best chance of making the desired impact. But he doesn’t really fit the Liverpool transfer model at all.
As for the other two, they each have significant potential. But their ability to provide an immediate upgrade is dubious. Johnson picked out an alternative option. He named Antoine Semenyo as a player for Liverpool to target.
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“Antoine Semenyo is quick, powerful and explosive, and I could see him in a Liverpool kit next season,” he said. “But that’d be a massive step forward for him.
“You don’t know what players can do until they’re chucked into the deep end. So I’d pick him to join the Reds this summer.”
This does seem to go against a lot of the other things that Johnson said. As he admitted, Semenyo would be tasked with making a big step up, and there are no guarantees he would improve the side either.
But it is an interesting name to pick out. Semenyo has been impressive for Bournemouth, and there would be shades of the Diogo Jota move when Liverpool identified a player ready to step up around even better teammates.
All in all, it would be an intriguing move rather than a genuinely exciting one. But that only serves to underline just how hard it will be for Liverpool this summer, with all eyes on how Slot and his team walk the transfer tightrope.
