After Liverpool celebrated their 20th English top-flight title with a £446million spend last summer – which would have been more if not for the 11th-hour collapse of a deal for Marc Guehi – you could reasonably have expected 2026 to be a quiet year.
But things do not always go as planned in football. Despite that trolley-dash, Liverpool have gone backwards and can probably count themselves lucky to be in the Champions League spots after a dismal campaign that saw them start well but then fall away rapidly.
Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, with 820 Reds appearances between them, are leaving on free transfers and Liverpool clearly have a lot of work to do this summer.
So let’s answer the five big questions…
The work for next season is already underway at Anfield, with Mohamed Salah (left) and Andy Robertson leaving the club this summer
What do Liverpool need this summer?
Top of the shopping list must be a pair of forwards. With Salah and his 257 Reds goals leaving, Federico Chiesa likely to follow and Hugo Ekitike out for a significant chunk of next season with a ruptured achilles tendon, Arne Slot only has three forwards to choose from: teenager Rio Ngumoha, the inconsistent Cody Gakpo and injury-prone Alexander Isak.
That is why it feels imperative to sign not one, but two attackers. Slot spoke last Friday about how important wingers are to his style of play, with Luis Diaz having left last summer for Bayern Munich. He has been missed more than some may have anticipated. A pacy wide man would give Liverpool a new dimension, while a versatile supplementary forward should have a similar effect.
Liverpool’s midfield has regressed this season. Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch have both struggled to get anywhere near their form in the title-winning 2024-25 campaign. They are played through far too easily. This must be addressed in the summer. A true holding midfielder is as important an addition as the Salah replacement.
With Robertson leaving, a new left back seems necessary. Kostas Tsimikas will be returning from a loan at Roma but the Greece international failed to make a lasting impression in the Italian capital. Is he good enough to back up Milos Kerkez?
Signings in other positions will depend on outgoings.
As it stands, teenager Rio Ngumoha is one of just three fit senior forwards at Liverpool
Alexis Mac Allister (left) and Ryan Gravenberch (centre) were bypassed far too easily last season, having been crucial to the previous campaign’s title win
Do they have money to spend? And any financial concerns?
There are no financial concerns and the money is there, though don’t expect another £446m outlay.
Finishing in the Champions League spots, which midway through the season looked touch and go, has saved the club from a £200m black hole in their finances. It also helps with convincing targets to join.
Liverpool always spend carefully and within their means and despite that huge investment last summer making headlines, they sold more than £200m worth of talent.
They will need to trade wisely again, though there are not quite as many sellable assets this time around. However, getting £400,000-a-week Salah off the wage bill certainly won’t harm Liverpool’s finances…
Securing Champions League football for next season saved Liverpool from a £200m black hole in their finances
Who are they targeting?
As we revealed in our January transfer window briefing, RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande has been watched extensively. Preliminary interest back then has evolved into the Ivorian 19-year-old being a primary target. He is now the frontrunner to replace Salah.
But he won’t come cheap – Leipzig have set his value at £86m (€100m). Talks have taken place and the player is currently locked in a dispute over his agency, which is a big deal given his representative would be set for a significant payday in any move of this size.
Diomande would be a typical Fenway Sports Group signing: a gem of the future but still with room to grow. Paris Saint-Germain also have eyes on the winger, it is believed. That might open the door for an alternative target and could have a knock-on effect on Liverpool’s interest in Bradley Barcola, who plays for the French and European champions.
Barcola, 23, was mooted as a target last summer but Liverpool were keen not to block the development of Ngumoha. Given Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue are PSG’s first-choice wingers, Barcola could look to move on but, again, he won’t be cheap.
Anthony Gordon has been floated around as a target for years but is now joining Barcelona. West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen has also been linked to Liverpool but there is not thought to be a relegation release clause in his contract and other clubs might be a more realistic landing spot for the 29-year-old, even though the Hammers’ negotiating position will be weakened by their relegation.
Liverpool have asked around about central midfielders, centre backs and a right back to cover all outcomes in terms of outgoings. With Conor Bradley a long-term absentee and fellow right back Jeremie Frimpong having an injury-hit first campaign on Merseyside, a new player in that position could be pursued.
They looked at Lutsharel Geertruida, who spent this season on loan at Sunderland from RB Leipzig, both last summer and in January and have an interest in Denzel Dumfries of Inter Milan, who is available on a cut-price fee.
As for midfielders, Adam Wharton has been mentioned for some time. Crystal Palace do not want to sell him for obvious reasons but the former Blackburn man could be tempted in a move back to the North West. He would also command a hefty fee, and Liverpool will be looking at a range of cheaper midfield options on the continent.
RB Leipzig’s 19-year-old Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande is the frontrunner to replace Mohamed Salah on the right-hand side
Jeremy Jacquet (right) will join from Rennes this summer and is expected to be fit for the start of pre-season after a serious shoulder injury cut his campaign short in February
Samuel Martinez, a 17-year-old Colombian star, will join from Atletico Nacional
At centre back, Jeremy Jacquet will join from Rennes in a deal that was agreed in January. With Ibrahima Konate’s contractual situation still unsolved, they could be forced to go back into the market.
Several youngsters will join and this is where Michael Edwards’s grand plan of a second team under an FSG multi-club network would have come in handy. Colombian Samuel Martinez, 17, will sign from Atletico Nacional though he will start with the Under 21s.
The Reds have made an intriguing pitch to Hertha Berlin wonderkid Kennet Eichhorn though the 16-year-old is yet to decide on his future. Young Austria Vienna defender Ifeanyi Ndukwe and Celtic’s Dara Jikiemi are poised to join. They have also kept a watching brief on highly-rated Wolves goalkeeper Zach Trinder, who has played for England’s age-group teams.
Slot will shake up his coaching staff with Etienne Reijnen in line to join from Feyenoord, who in turn are showing interest in Reds No 3 Giovanni van Bronckhorst in a technical director role.
Who might leave?
Liverpool hope they can persuade Alisson to see out his contract at Anfield after intense interest from Juventus.
Sources in Italy tell Daily Mail Sport the Turin club have informed the goalkeeper they would be willing to sign him on a three-year deal with a big salary. Their situation has not changed based on the fact they missed out on Champions League football, and they would be prepared to pay a transfer fee of £13m.
Liverpool would not outright block a deal should Alisson or any other player voice their desire to leave but they will do everything else in their power to prevent another leader following Salah and Robertson out of the door.
Curtis Jones is another with strong interest from Italy. Inter Milan enquired in January and remain keen, though Liverpool value him at £35m. Sources in Italy say the Serie A champions want to pay closer to £20m for a player that has just one year remaining on his deal.
Have Liverpool supporters already seen the last of goalkeeper Alisson Becker?
Aston Villa are interested in a move for Joe Gomez (left), Liverpool’s longest-serving player
Jones has struggled for regular starts in his favoured position of central midfield this season, though he was a mainstay for the final six weeks of the term at right back. At 25 and having been left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England World Cup squad, Jones has a decision to make over whether his future is better served away from the club he joined as a nine-year-old.
Konate’s situation is a weird one. Speaking after the Merseyside Derby victory just a month ago, the Frenchman told reporters he was close to signing a new deal but, as it stands, he is free to join a rival for nothing in just over a month. Small details might be holding up that deal but both Konate and Slot have publicly voiced their desire to extend the relationship.
Joe Gomez has suitors in the Premier League and abroad. Aston Villa are the latest club to post an interest in him, while AC Milan and Crystal Palace have previously enquired to his camp.
Harvey Elliott returns from a disappointing loan spell at Villa and will be part of the squad for the first week of pre-season but it is likely he is sold. RB Leipzig and other Bundesliga clubs were keen this time last year. Chiesa is likely to leave after two seasons of being unable to break into Slot’s starting line-up and a host of Italian sides are keen.
There will be plenty of loan interest in other youngsters like James McConnell, Trey Nyoni, Armin Pecsi, Stefan Bajcetic and Kieran Morrison.
Wonderkid Joshua Abe has had a number of clubs on his tail, such as Manchester City, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Chelsea. The teenager, who had trained with the first team before a season-ending injury, has an uncertain future.
And which current players are primed to step up next season?
They were signed for big money and despite some positive moments here and there, last summer’s arrivals simply must do better. Isak (£125m) can be excused for his injury problems but the likes of Florian Wirtz (116m) must raise his game and the World Cup might do him good.
Ibrahima Konate and Liverpool are both making all the right noises about a new contract, but the clock is ticking down rapidly on his current one and he can walk away on July 1
Florian Wirtz must step up after his £116m move last summer and the World Cup may do him good
Ngumoha will hope for more starts and to continue his stellar progression while defenders Giovanni Leoni – who suffered a knee ligament injury on his debut – and Jacquet will be welcome additions.
Nyoni is an extremely talented midfielder and can probably feel aggrieved at his lack of game-time this year, especially when others in his position have looked in need of a rest.
Even if Alisson does stay, succession planning must begin for players like him and Virgil van Dijk, with the pair’s contracts both up this time next year.
