Headline: Liverpool Aims to Expand Squad Amid Resource Constraints as Transfer Window Closes
Liverpool FC recently held its traditional management meeting at the start of September, just as the transfer window neared its conclusion. The main focus of the meeting centered around the urgent need to increase the squad’s size. With only a week left in the transfer window, team officials, led by Richard Hughes, expressed a clear priority: they need more players to meet their goals.
However, the challenge lies in the limited financial resources available for new signings. The current squad has been described as “strangely thin and lopsided.” As one insider remarked, “it’s like they’re in a boat with six different leaks, but which one do you plug?” This reflects the difficult position the management faces; any expenditure on one or two positions could leave gaps in others.
This situation is exacerbated by the playing style implemented by head coach Andoni Iraola. Although Liverpool’s most glaring needs are at full-back and in central midfield, Iraola’s intense managerial approach requires robust backup across all positions to sustain it without overworking players, thus reducing the risk of injuries.
As a result, Liverpool needs to address multiple positions but must adopt a strategic and creative approach, rather than the more expansive targets they pursued last summer.
In a notable shift from their previous approach, discussions around key player acquisitions no longer echo the same ambition as last year, when Liverpool was reportedly poised to pay a record £125 million fee for Alexander Isak, in addition to almost £200 million invested in attackers.
The rapid decline in their position is stark, and the supposed growth in squad depth now appears to have resulted in a smaller roster overall. As the deadline approaches, it looks likely that Liverpool will face a hectic last week of negotiations, operating with a sense of urgency rather than the calculated strategies seen last summer.
The focus has surprisingly shifted towards Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola, with Liverpool seemingly determined to pursue a deal despite the player’s price tag exceeding £110 million—a cost which recently deterred Arsenal from making an offer.
Despite current financial limitations, indicative that the sale of Cody Gakpo could be part of a larger plan resembling a housing-market chain, the interest in a winger signals Iraola’s prioritization of a dynamic offensive strategy. This tactic aims to disrupt the opposing team’s focus, relieving defensive pressure.
Nonetheless, detractors voice concerns regarding the vulnerabilities that such an attacking style could expose, as seen in Liverpool’s last match against Newcastle United.
Amid these broader issues, sources indicate that Liverpool has a clear target in mind for a defensive midfielder: Alex Scott, currently at Bournemouth. Unfortunately, financial constraints hinder Liverpool’s ability to meet the expected transfer fee of around £90 million, suggesting that they might wait until next year to make their move.
The complexities in negotiations have prompted concerns that rival clubs, including Chelsea, may enter the fray for Scott, who has seen interest spurred largely due to his impressive performances.
Meanwhile, Iraola has established a reputation as a manager well-suited to navigating such uncertainties. He is known for his ability to adapt tactically within challenging environments, making him a valuable addition to a club like Liverpool that faces escalating demands.
Currently, the pressure seems to have shifted back onto the Liverpool hierarchy, as the stakes grow higher in a project requiring substantial growth. Sources indicate that if Liverpool manages to add only about two new players before the window closes, it may be a necessary but insufficient move towards the larger goal of squad overhaul, leaving many within the organization apprehensive.
Liverpool have a customary management meeting at the start of September, just after the transfer window closes, and the tone of it is currently subject to one main aim.
The football hierarchy, led by Richard Hughes, know the squad just has to be bigger. It’s an absolute priority, with a week of the window remaining, and there’s a pressure. Within that, though, there’s also a problem.
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There are multiple areas to focus on, without that much money to spend. This is a strangely thin and lopsided squad. As one source says, “it’s like they’re in a boat with six different leaks but which one do you plug?” If they spend the available budget in one or two areas, they’re short in another.
Liverpool’s squad appears strangely thin (Reuters)
That is potentially compounded by the way that Andoni Iraola plays. While Liverpool are most obviously shallow at full-back and central midfield, the Basque manager’s ideal football is so intense that you really need proper back-up in every outfield position to apply it to its maximum. Otherwise, necessary overuse can bring injury.
Liverpool consequently have to bolster so many areas, but would have to get very creative to do them all. In other words, they’re going to have to choose.
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And that certainly isn’t from the notionally strategic targeting of stars that we saw last summer.
The fact that Newcastle United were the first opposition, with Alexander Isak a central dramatic figure but a fringe performer in that 2-2 draw, only emphasises a contrast that many in the market have been commenting on.
Alexander Isak was a fringe figure in Liverpool’s Premier League opener (Getty)
This time last year, Liverpool were the picture of largesse, with industry figures talking about how they were taking an entire project – and an idea – to “maturation”.
They were gearing up to pay a record Premier League fee for Isak, at £125m, having already spent almost £200m on attackers. More than that, they were apparently “zagging” when everyone was “zigging”; exactly the kind of counter-intuitive approach that keeps you on top; opting for individual quality when other teams were going for team control.
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It’s instead incredible how quickly they’ve fallen behind, while supposed maturation has just seen the squad seem smaller in size.
Liverpool’s heavy investment last year is yet to pay off (Getty)
This consequently looks set to be a frantic final week, where Liverpool just can’t be as calculated as last year.
Many might quip that could be a good thing, given the knock-on effects of last summer’s window – and how they’ve even played into this market’s difficulties – are still being felt.
Such circumstances have nevertheless raised surprise that Liverpool have been so intent on Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola, given that the Qatari-owned project want well in excess of £110m. It was that price which put Arsenal off.
Liverpool have seemed intent on signing Bradley Barcola – surprisingly (Getty)
Such a deal could be offset by the sale of Cody Gakpo, in one of many situations in this market that almost resembles a housing-market chain. Manchester City remain interested.
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The focus on a winger also points to just how much Iraola’s own coaching prioritises attack, especially for how the “chaos” that creates can tilt the tactical shape of an entire match. Put simply, if you are forcing the opposition to constantly think about your attack, they can’t put your defence under the same pressure. It’s Liverpool going with it, embracing the rock and roll again.
For all the reservations, this is exactly what they appointed Iraola for.
Others would now take a more conservative view, and point to how the set-up threatens to repeatedly leave Iraola’s side susceptible to the kind of breakaways that Newcastle United enjoyed on Sunday.
Reflecting some of the wider issues, however, Liverpool do actually have a top target for defensive midfield.
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Multiple sources say that is Iraola’s hinge player at Bournemouth, Alex Scott.
Alex Scott would be an ideal Liverpool signing but they may not have the budged to make a move for him (Getty)
A complication is that they can’t currently pay the kind of fee that even make the south-coast club consider a sale, estimated at around £90m. As such, there’s a sense that Liverpool will wait until next year, and make do in the way that Arne Slot did in 2024-25. Ryan Gravenberch may become newly important again.
There is a risk to that, if it’s Scott they absolutely want, since Chelsea are one of many clubs extremely keen on the 23-year-old. Bournemouth have so far warned off all suitors, insisting they won’t even entertain bids in this window, but Chelsea are considering whether to test that with a high offer.
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At the least, Iraola has proven he is a coach who is very good at making do. He doesn’t publicly complain, and has repeatedly shown a willingness to tactically compromise.
It’s why so many executives have been describing him as a “dream appointment” in the modern environment, that is so dominated by directors and executives.
Andoni Iraola’s capacity for compromise may help Liverpool out (PA)
Duly, Hughes and the Liverpool hierarchy are arguably coming under much greater pressure than the coach.
There’s still a difference between tactically compromising for an upwardly mobile mid-table side like Bournemouth, and doing it for Liverpool. The demands are bigger, the needs are greater.
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Right now, Liverpool arguably need around six players, for a best-case scenario. The current thinking from various sources is that they’ll end up with a net addition of two, potentially meaning three incomings and one sale.
There’s a hope that would be enough to make “a huge difference”. Otherwise, in the words of one source, “there’s going to be a lot of concerned faces” at that September meeting.
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