Despite recent slip-ups against Fulham in the league, Newcastle in the League Cup final and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, it feels safe to say that Liverpool will be crowned champions by the end of May – and deservedly so, as they are at this moment the best team in English football.
Arne Slot has remained calm and composed throughout – and last summer, when many expected upheaval after Jurgen Klopp’s departure, the Dutchman instead opted to work largely with the squad he added at his disposal while making minor but imperative tweaks to the team’s style of play and brand of football.
It all worked to great effect with Liverpool being runaway leaders in the Premier League, scoring more goals than any other team by some distance and also boasting the second best defensive record in the division. However, it could be argued that the hardest of Slot’s tasks at Liverpool is still to come as he faces uncertainty over the soon-to-be expiring contracts of top scorer Mohamed Salah, club captain Virgil van Dijk and academy hero Trent Alexander-Arnold, who looks destined to move to Real Madrid.
The trio have all had defining roles to play in Liverpool’s success for the best part of a decade and replacing some, or maybe even all them, will mark arguably one of the biggest rebuilds in one transfer window of the Premier League era. With that in mind, we take a look at the deals Liverpool are likely to have in the pipeline this summer.
A dream Trent Alexander-Arnold replacement
With 64 assists and counting, Trent Alexander-Arnold sits right at the very top for assists by a defender in the Premier League era by some distance with only team-mate Andrew Robertson (59) coming close to the 26-year-old for creativity.
People in English football are perhaps too fixated on the things that Trent can’t do but it doesn’t appear long before many Liverpool fans begin to miss the things he does best with his incredible passing range and crossing ability, with Real Madrid closing in on a deal to sign the England international.
Trent gets the best out of Liverpool’s attackers and finding a player with a similar output in an offensive sense is a difficult task. However, one player thought to be on Liverpool’s radar is Bayer Leverkusen star Jeremie Frimpong, who has worked under a former Anfield great in Xabi Alonso.
The Dutch international, who was once on the books at Manchester City before joining Celtic, was part of a Leverkusen team which won the double while going unbeaten last season and overall he has a tally of 29 goals and 43 assists in 185 games this season.
He can play both as a full-back and as a wing-back and according to Metro has a release clause of around £33m which Liverpool are attentive to.
A £50m Bournemouth raid
It could well be all change in the full-back areas for Liverpool, with reports claiming that the Reds are in the market to sign a left-back to replace Andrew Robertson as the first choice starter.
One name heavily linked is 22-year-old Hungarian international Milos Kerkez, who has enjoyed a sublime campaign for the Cherries with two goals and five assists in the league to inspire a European push.
Fabrizio Romano understand Kerkez is keen for a new challenge in the summer and believes Liverpool could be one of the top contenders.
He posted on X: “Milos Kerkez, expected to leave and try new chapter in the summer as reported in the recent months.Liverpool are among clubs tracking the left back who signed with Fali Ramadani as new agent this year.”
A new start for Harvey Elliot?
Speculation about Elliott’s future is starting to circulate around the gossip columns – including a report this week which suggests that he could be the subject of interest from Newcastle.
It’s even reported that Liverpool have greenlit his departure, for a fee in the region of £40m after giving the youngster limited opportunities to start this season.
Elliot, who is still only 22, is seen as the type of player that could provide competition to Newcastle’s sole right winger option Jacob Murphy in the coming months.
Premier League clubs circle Caoimhin Kelleher
Caoimhin Kelleher is approaching the final year of his contract at Liverpool but it appears that he’s likely he’s only got a handful of games left to play for the club.
Liverpool already have one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Alisson Becker occupying the starting spot while Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was signed off the back of a strong tournament at Euro 2024 has already agreed to join the club after spending this season on loan at Valencia.
Reports suggest Kelleher is seeking regular first team football next season and Sky Sports claim Bournemouth are ‘confident’ of landing the Republic of Ireland international as a long-term replacement for Kepa with Chelsea, Newcastle and Leeds (if they win promotion) also showing interest.