Liverpool have work to do if they’re to rediscover the steadiness that noticed them lay waste to the Premier League in Arne Slot‘s first season on the Anfield helm.
Regardless of the numerous modifications to the Reds first group over the previous few months, it is maybe tough to counsel that Liverpool have made dramatic enhancements on final yr’s title-winning group, with Mohamed Salah even suggesting that that is so when quizzed on FSG’s summer season spending.
That is to not say sporting director Richard Hughes has overseen a poor switch window; removed from it. It is merely that Liverpool have been coherent and instinctive final season, a fully-gelled group, however have now parted with a number of vital first-teamers and have changed them with up-and-coming skills.
It is solely pure {that a} bedding-in interval would happen, with the absence of steadiness and defensive solidity throughout the primary two fixtures of Liverpool’s marketing campaign proof of that.
However for all of the upheaval, Liverpool stay attentive to the market because it attracts towards the stretch, with Hughes and Slot in live performance over the Reds’ want for depth throughout the frontline and on the rear.
The newest Liverpool switch information
Will Liverpool pull it off? Alexander Isak‘s inflammatory assertion on his future made it clear he needs to depart Newcastle United and signal for the Premier League champions this summer season, however the Magpies have struggled to signal strikers this summer season and are publicly stressing he is going nowhere.
No matter occurs, it has been an unsavoury saga, however the door stays ajar, with Newcastle desperately scrambling for a brand new quantity 9.
However Liverpool want a defender too. Whereas Giovanni Leoni was welcomed to Slot’s squad this month, the 18-year-old centre-half needs to be eased into the swing of issues.
It’s Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace who would supply the jewel for Liverpool’s defensive crown. The 25-year-old has been closely linked with a transfer to Merseyside, with lower than a yr remaining on his contract.
The result of that saga stays unknown, and the identical goes for Isak. Nonetheless, Liverpool do want such a participant, and if Newcastle keep their obstinacy over their talisman’s future, it is essential that there is another possibility.
Liverpool holding talks for Isak different
In response to Soccer Insider, Actual Madrid star Rodrygo stays on Liverpool’s radar as they mull over a late-window bid.
The 24-year-old is anticipated to depart the Santiago Bernabeu this month, and his representatives have jetted over to England to carry talks with Liverpool officers over a possible switch. And the identical goes for Manchester Metropolis.
Xabi Alonso has made it clear that the Brazil worldwide just isn’t on the fulcrum of his imaginative and prescient within the Spanish capital, however Actual Madrid will not money in for a cut-price determine, having listed him at a lofty €90m (£76m).
The sale of Diaz to Bayern Munich has left Liverpool mild up prime, and Rodrygo can be the right versatile ahead to finish Slot’s frontline.
Why Liverpool need Rodrygo
Whereas there is no such thing as a query that Liverpool’s precedence heading into the closing levels of the summer season switch window is to get Isak garbed in purple apparel, Rodrygo would not be a half-bad fallback.
Rodrygo has lengthy starred as a first-team star with Los Blancos, having left his Brazilian homeland for the peerless superpower after he turned 18.
And although the 2024/25 marketing campaign left a lot to be desired for him, Rodrygo has been hailed by his teammate Jude Bellingham as “most likely essentially the most gifted and most gifted participant within the squad.”
His sharpness with each toes and his propensity for equal shares of objectives and assists lend themselves to totally different positional roles, however Slot would usually deploy him on the attacking left flank.
Nonetheless, for all its management, Slot’s system is something however inflexible. Interchangeability and tenacity are key tenets, and it is for that reason that Dominik Szoboszlai has performed such a central function within the supervisor’s plans. Szoboszlai, certainly, might show the right associate for Rodrygo at Liverpool, enjoying from his industrious central function and pushing ahead to mix with the South American.
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Arne Slot’s Most Used Gamers at Liverpool |
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|---|---|---|
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# |
Participant |
Apps |
|
1. |
Mohamed Salah |
54 |
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2. |
Virgil van Dijk |
51 |
|
2= |
Dominik Szoboszlai |
51 |
|
2= |
Alexis Mac Allister |
51 |
|
2= |
Cody Gakpo |
51 |
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Knowledge through Transfermarkt |
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You can say that new recruit Florian Wirtz can be a devastating and dynamic dance participant for a prolific large ahead like Rodrygo, and maybe that’s so, however Szoboszlai has confirmed himself to be an lively and efficient midfield power for Liverpool.
The Hungarian may not be a medical participant, per se, however he is been hailed by content material creator Asim Mahmood as a “machine” with a “critically elite mentality” since Slot dropped him from ten to extra of a box-to-box deployment in the midst of the park.
Knowledge from Sofascore exhibits that the 24-year-old created three key passes in opposition to Crystal Palace and two in opposition to Bournemouth in Liverpool’s Premier League opener, profitable ten duels throughout the 2 fixtures and making a complete of ten tackles too.
How does this relate to Rodrygo? Properly, the Actual Madrid man is thought for his dedication and perseverance, profitable 56% of his floor duels in La Liga final yr (Sofascore).
Kind and fluency within the Spanish capital have dwindled for his world-class expertise, however he might choose himself up after which some by signing for Liverpool and emulating Szoboszlai in placing 110% effort into his performances.
The £120k-per-week Liverpool star, in spite of everything, ranks among the many prime 15% of positional friends throughout Europe’s prime 5 leagues over the previous yr for ball recoveries made per 90 and the highest 5% for move completion, through FBref, thus underscoring his crisp and energetic model of play, guaranteeing Liverpool purr.
Rodrygo would dovetail proper into the Anfield working with Szoboszlai pulling strings behind him. His ‘poor’ 2024/25 marketing campaign nonetheless yielded 25 objective involvements throughout all competitions – the identical as Diaz – and he was routinely performed out of place to accommodate Vinicius Junior.
His medical contact can be strengthened in a task of better significance at Liverpool, particularly when forming partnerships with selfless, hard-working stars like Szoboszlai.
