Four signings Andoni Iraola must get Liverpool again to the highest of the Premier League

Liverpool’s new manager Andoni Iraola needs to make a raft of signings for Liverpool to again challenge for the Premier League title they failed to defend last season

Liverpool went into last season with an understocked and unbalanced squad. It can’t be allowed to happen again if the aim is to win back the Premier League title.

Andoni Iraola is now in charge after Arne Slot paid the price for a miserable second campaign by losing his job. It was a shocking turnaround after being crowned champions just 12 months earlier. A fifth-placed finish and an embarrassing 20 defeats in all competitions was an abysmal return for the Dutch manager, given the near £450million shelled out on transfers. Qualifying for the Champions League was the bare minimum expected.

The focus on the vast amount of money spent by the Reds last summer was understandable. The British transfer record was broken twice – first with a £116m swoop for Florian Wirtz and again when Alexander Isak was signed for £125m. Meanwhile, £79m was spent on Hugo Ekitike, £40m on Milos Kerkez and £29m on Jeremie Frimpong. The £29m deal for Giorgi Mamardashvili was completed and Giovanni Leoni arrived for £26m.

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But what many pundits didn’t take into account was the £262m recouped in sales and the players the Reds failed to replace. Sporting director Richard Hughes shoulders a lot of responsibility. For now, we’ll put aside the controversial Isak saga, which saw an unfit forward who had been on strike not arrive until the last day of the window. A bigger crime was letting one of Liverpool’s best players Luis Diaz leave and not even trying to sign a new left winger.

A squad already rocked by the tragic death of Diogo Jota also saw the much-maligned Darwin Nunez depart. The team’s creative fulcrum Trent Alexander-Arnold had already engineered a bargain basement move to Real Madrid. Then Harvey Elliott, a versatile midfield option and supersub, was shipped off to Aston Villa in an ill-fated loan. And young England defender Jarell Quansah was allowed to join Bayer Leverkusen. Hughes simply had to sign an experienced centre-back, but spent months lowballing Crystal Palace for Marc Guehi, before the deal collapsed on deadline day.

Now, with less than three weeks until the start of the new season, Liverpool’s injury-ravaged squad looks a mess. Only Jeremy Jacquet, a young inexperienced defender, and Victor Munoz, a young winger with just one season of top flight football behind him, have been recruited. Signings are needed, now. So here’s four that would give Iraola a chance of competing for the Premier League.

Ezri Konsa

Virgil van Dijk is still a world class central defender but he’s 35 and had to play 55 games for Liverpool last season. This cannot continue. His favoured partner, Joe Gomez, 29, is injury prone and predictably injured. Jacquet, 21, is recovering from a shoulder injury and new to the league.

And Giovanni Leoni, 19, is a kid recovering from an ACL. Meanwhile, at right-back, injury prone Conor Bradley, 23, is still out with a major knee injury, while Jeremie Frimpong, 25, is yet to impress after a season of injuries. A new experienced and reliable centre-back is a must. And one who can also play at right-back seems essential.

Ezri Konsa of Aston Villa fits that bill. He is already one of the best defenders in the division. Konsa is established, versatile and homegrown – the latter a key consideration for Liverpool – and a right-sided defender who could partner Van Dijk and marshal the defence in his absence. It’s suggested the England international could be signed for around £60m.

It would be well worth it, given he could solve two problems for the Reds, covering at right-back when needed. He’s quick, very good at one-on-one defending, impressive on the ball and solid in the air. And at the age of 28, now is the time if he wants a move to one of the world’s biggest football clubs.

Angelo Stiller

Liverpool have not had a specialist defensive midfielder for their first team since Fabinho left the club in 2023. Wataru Endo is a 33-year-old squad player; Stefan Bajcetic an injury-plagued 21-year-old; and Ryan Gravenberch a box-to-box midfielder, who was converted by Slot to a number 6 and performed the role brilliantly in 2024/25, but last year seemed determined to abandon the position and contribute more offensively.

His passing is not as impressive as his ball-carrying ability. Liverpool’s shape didn’t help their defensive issues last season, as the midfield was often wide open. But the Reds also regularly looked a soft touch with no bite in midfield and no one to build from the back and dictate play.

Angelo Stiller, 25, of VfB Stuttgart, is rated at around £45m. The German international looks a top deep-lying creator and a tactically astute player who is a wonderful passer of the ball. He runs games in the Bundesliga – could he provide what the Reds missed out on when Martin Zubimendi turned down a move to Anfield two years ago?

His weaknesses – like Zubimendi – are evident, however. While he’s a good tackler and has strong defensive positioning, Stiller isn’t very quick and is not physically imposing. Yet partnered with a hyper athletic anomaly like Dominik Szoboszlai or an all-rounder like Gravenberch and these issues could be minimised.

Bradley Barcola

This requires little explanation. Luis Diaz and his qualities are yet to be replaced. Cody Gakpo can be effective in the right system, but he lacks pace and fight, and was often frustrating last season – repeatedly cutting inside and shooting or crossing erratically.

As Jamie Carragher once said, he sometimes “plays like the game is in slow motion”. Linked with a move to Tottenham, the Dutchman could depart. That would leave newcomer Munoz and Rio Ngumoha, a 17-year-old kid who should not be relied upon or overplayed at this stage of his career.

Barcola, if the Reds can negotiate Paris Saint-Germain down from £145m to a more reasonable fee, is a dream signing. A top class left winger who can also play on the right or down the middle.

The France international has already been a key part of two Champions League wins for PSG. Who can forget him ripping Manchester City to shreds 18 months ago? He has scintillating pace, is an elite dribbler, and is always in the action. He needs to show more final product, but at 23 he’s got plenty of time to improve.

Ferran Torres

While Munoz, Ngumoha, the veteran Federico Chiesa and potentially Barcola can all play on the right, and Iraola may even use Szoboszlai tucked in on that flank, there is still a huge Mohamed Salah-shaped hole in this Liverpool squad. It’s impossible to replace the Egyptian’s extraordinary number of goals from the right wing.

Liverpool clearly hope Isak will deliver them at number 9 instead, yet that throws up another problem. The injury-prone Isak cannot play every three days when fixtures come thick and fast and his deputy, Hugo Ekitike, is fighting his way back from a devastating ruptured Achilles tendon.

That’s partly what could make a £60m approach for Barcelona ace Ferran Torres, Spain’s World Cup winning hero, so intriguing. Thanks to stagnated contract renewal talks and rumours of additional payments that may have to be made to his old club Manchester City, it appears the 26-year-old is leaving the Nou Camp. Now a more well-rounded player than we saw during his last shortlived stay in England, he has bags of quality, experience and versatility, and posted 40 goals and 10 assists in his last two seasons for Barcelona.

At Liverpool, Torres could be deployed on the right wing, on the left flank, as a stand-in number 9 for Isak when he’s rested, or as a number 10 playing with the Swede instead of Wirtz.

Signing him alongside Barcola would signal Liverpool are serious about giving Iraola the forward options he requires to play his intense brand of attacking football and getting England’s most successful football club back in the mix for major honours.