Liverpool was long the favorite to wrap up the Premier League title before Arne Slot’s side officially got over the line by beating Spurs at Anfield. And yet it is still set to be a big summer for sporting director Richard Hughes.
Hughes has already sealed deals with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk to keep the pair at Liverpool for another two years, but Trent Alexander-Arnold has chosen to make the move to Real Madrid rather than extend into what could be the peak period in his career. An addition at right-back will be required, with Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong one option under consideration.
Elsewhere, Liverpool could probably do with signing a left-back too, and it definitely needs an upgrade at number nine. Darwin Nunez could leave having failed to maximize his potential, while Diogo Jota has had another inconsistent campaign.
So while Liverpool is starting from a high baseline, there are improvements that could be made. Ibrahima Konate will need tying down to a contract extension, too, otherwise bringing in another center-back will climb higher up the to-do list.
Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen would be an ideal option, but Real Madrid, according to The Telegraph, is now leading the race for the Spaniard. Huijsen has always favored a move to Los Blancos but the question was whether they would be in the market for a defender.
In terms of the transfer window, though, Liverpool and the rest of the Premier League clubs will soon be able to do deals. Thanks to the newly-implemented and expanded Club World Cup, the summer transfer window is going to be split into two parts.
(Image: Jorg Schuler/Bayer 04 Leverkusen via Getty Images)
Clubs will be able to sign players between Sunday 1 June and Tuesday 10 June. The teams involved in the Club World Cup — Chelsea and Manchester City from England — will therefore be able to bring new faces in before heading to the US for that tournament.
The transfer window will then close for a period of six days, before opening again at the point it normally does in mid-June. It will close on September 1.
There had been talk that the window would close before the start of the season to make things fairer and ensure that rosters are finalized before games begin.
But that is now confirmed as not being the case, with the Premier League instead aligning with the rest of Europe and ensuring it doesn’t leave itself at a disadvantage.
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The new Premier League campaign will get underway on the weekend of August 16 and 17, when Liverpool will kick off as champion. Teams will be able to make more additions in January.
Liverpool.com says: Frimpong is a very talented player with a lot of qualities but he is completely different to Alexander-Arnold. It will be interesting to see how Slot intends to use him if he does arrive, with Ryan Gravenberch one example of how he has used the traits of a player and molded them into playing a slightly different position.
Frimpong would be homegrown because he used to play for Manchester City, and with a release clause of around $39 million (£30 million), he would be relatively cheap in the current climate. There are definitely attributes that make it add up.
