Liverpool 2026-27 season preview: Another trophy-less campaign beckons for the Reds but new coach Andoni Iraola should get Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz firing
Despite giddy talk that Slot’s sacking might lead to Mohamed Salah performing a dramatic U-turn and returning to Anfield, Liverpool’s Egyptian King – who had a spectacular falling-out with the Dutchman last season – ended up joining Trabzonspor on a free transfer.
Truth be told, given the money that Salah was on, coupled with his struggles last season, his exit probably suited everyone involved, and one could probably say the same about Andy Robertson. The Scot is, like Salah, a Liverpool legend, and will always be a massive fan favourite, but he was no longer first choice and that wasn’t going to change under Iraola, who turned Milos Kerkez into one of the most exciting full-backs in the league. Consequently, Liverpool decided against offering a new deal to a player who had already been looking to move to Tottenham Hotspur as far back as January in search of more regular game time.
The situation with Ibrahima Konate was very different, though. Liverpool most certainly did not want to lose the France international for nothing. The expectation had been all along that the 27-year-old would extend his stay on Merseyside but he left for Real Madrid, in eerily similar fashion to Trent Alexander-Arnold.
In fairness to Liverpool, they did at least move early to bring in a potential Konate successor, as the £60 million ($82m) deal for Rennes’ Jeremy Jacquet was agreed in January. The Reds’ recruitment team also deserve praise for hijacking yet another Newcastle United deal by swooping in to sign Spain international winger Victor Munoz from Osasuna, while the loan signing of Ronald Araujo seemed to come out of nowhere and, for all his problems, the former Barcelona captain, at least, offers Iraola more cover at centre-half and right-back.
There is a chance, though, that signing Ifeanyi Ndukwe from Austria Wien for £2.6m could prove the best bit of business done by Richard Hughes and Co. this summer. The defender isn’t eligible to play for Liverpool until 2027 because of work permit issues but Ndukwe was one of the surprise stars of pre-season and will likely return to the club in January after spending the first six months of the season elsewhere.
Still, there’s no getting away from the fact that Iraola’s squad is short on numbers – and particularly in midfield now that Curtis Jones has left for Inter (which also means that Liverpool no longer have a local lad in the senior squad).
The ongoing injury concerns obviously don’t help. Joe Gomez still can’t manage to stay fit, Giovanni Leoni has yet to return to action after nearly a year out with an ACL tear, Conor Bradley’s return date remains unknown, while there’s no guarantee that Hugo Ekitike will be back before the end of the season.
Liverpool are reportedly pushing hard to sign Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain – and maybe also Ibrahim Mbaye – but while he might help fill the void left by Mohamed Salah, he’s hardly the answer to all of their prayers.
Consequently, some supporters are getting a little antsy, particularly as the surprise move to sign the presently injured Yankuba Minteh from Brighton smacks of desperation and points to poor planning.
