Smart Signings - Liverpool

Welcome to our transfer series where we pinpoint three critical areas of need and propose three potential transfers: one budget, one mid-range, and one premium option. Join us as we explore how these signings could strengthen squads and shape the season ahead.

Image: Getty

Liverpool have been by far the best team in the Premier League this season, but they have not been the perfect winner like we have seen over the past few seasons, with multiple question marks over their squad, and the three positions of need identified have been striker, left back and right back.

Striker

It goes to show what Mohamed Salah has done this season in attack as Liverpool have been without a consistent striker for the entire season and yet it hasn't been a hot topic of conversation.

the striker position has been rotated between Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo and for multiple reasons each, they haven't been elite up top and a striker makes the most sense for a big buy for Arne Slot's side this summer.

Image: Getty

Before we get into the options, first let's look at what attributes will be needed from Liverpool's new striker.

The perfect striker for Liverpool will be a mix of their options this season, a player that has the movement and striker's instinct off the ball of Nunez, someone who can create their own danger like Diaz and a finisher and link player like Jota.

What will certainly be needed of the New Liverpool striker will be the ability to play off others, especially Salah, as whilst Salah will certainly create for a striker, a striker that can help Salah get into dangerous positions with good ball control and touches is a must if Salah is going to continue this form next season.

Premium - Alexander Isak

Cost - £120 million

Whilst Liverpool spending this much maybe unrealistic, but with limited spending last summer and the revenue of both the Champions League and PL, there will be money in the bank for a potential massive transfer and Isak ticks all the boxes for what Liverpool need in a striker.

Isak is a threat in every aspect of being a striker, with great movement and instincts off the ball, receiving 180 progressive passes this season, and when on the ball, he is a threat both with his dribbling and passing as of all the PL strikers, he's completed the most take-ons (41) and created the most chances (37).

Image: Getty

And obviously his finishing and end-product has been there for all to see since he arrived at Newcastle and is improving each season, scoring 11 goals and provided 2 assists in his first season, then 25 goals and 2 assists last season and this season with time to go, he has 24 goals and 6 assists.

This transfer does depend on if Isak wants it, if he wants it then surely Liverpool go all out to get him as a partnership between him and Salah will terrorise every defence in the PL and Europe and will certainly make them favourites to claim a successive PL title as they are buying the ready made product.

Mid-Range - Hugo Ekitike

Cost - £75 million

Whilst this cost will be high for most positions, for the striker position and the money Liverpool have in the bank, this is the mid-range for their striker search and whilst Ekitike isn't the end product yet, he is very similar to Isak and his attributes when he left Real Sociedad for Newcastle.

A lot of top clubs are on Ekitike's radar as he has done it all up top for Frankfurt this season, scoring 21 goals and providing 9 assists, contributing a goal or assist every 103 minutes this season.

Image: Getty

Ekitike is just like Isak in that he has the all-round game to compliment his goal-scoring instinct, as he has created more chances and completed more take-ons than any other Bundesliga striker this season.

And also like Isak with his move to Borussia Dortmund, Ekitke has already faced setbacks in his career, moving to PSG at 20 years old for £25 million, scoring just 4 goals in a seasons and a half before being sold last summer for just £14 million.

Whilst Ekitike has shown much promise this season, he does have some areas for improvement, mostly in terms of finishing, underperforming his xG by 5.5 in the Bundesliga this season and despite being over 6ft 2, he has won just 47.9% of his ariel duels.

Ekiktie will of course be more of a risk than Isak, but this could be the transfer like Isak to Newcastle, where Liverpool get the player before his big money move and with Liverpool having other options in Jota, Diaz, Gakpo and Salah, who can be relied upon for end-product, the signing of a younger, but very talented striker in Ekitike could be perfect if Ekitike can stay at Liverpool for a long time.

Budget - Liam Delap

Cost - £30 million

For the relegation release fee from Ipswich this summer, most PL clubs will be enquiring about Delap for this price and Liverpool will be no different as Delap has adapted to the PL very well and scoring 12 goals in a struggling Ipswich side is no easy feat and to do so and 21/22 years old, it's even more impressive.

Image: Getty

Delap's mix of having the striker instincts, finishing ability and great athletic prowess gives him the potential to be a top PL striker for a long time and Liverpool could get him for a cut price at the start of his career, and whilst he may not start every week for the reds, having him in and around a top setup and top players should bring even more out of him.

Other than his goalscoring ability, Delap is also a good dribbler, with Isak being the only striker with more successful take-ons and no striker has more progressive carries this season as he has had the burden of dragging Ipswich up the pitch on many occasions.

Delap's passing is the area for improvement, completing just 61.1% of his passes in the PL, with only 4 players having a worse %, but with Ipswich sitting deep and him barely having forward players around, his passing ability has not had the ability to shine.

Delap was funnily the most unproven of Ipswich's summer signings, scoring just 12 goals in 68 Championship appearances in the past two seasons, but his progressions over the seasons is a great indicator for his work rate and love for the game and if Nunez is offloaded this summer, he will be the perfect replacement for a typical number 9.

Left Back

Andy Robertson has been a great servant for Liverpool, winning everything for the club but he has certainly struggled this season in his new role this season, with his ability to go forward limited and more often than not, being told to stay back when Liverpool are in possession.

Image: Getty

His attributes of crossing and high energy don't match this role, where passing, duel winning and positioning is key and with Robertson turning 31 last month and is without a goal or assist in the PL this season, a replacement is certainly on the cards for this summer.

Premium - Castello Lukeba

Cost - £75 million

Spending this much on a left back may be unwise, but spending this much on a player who has the versatility to play left back and centre back at an elite level at 22 years old could be a wise investment for Liverpool, especially if they do have a war-chest on hand for Arne Slot this summer.

Image: Getty

Lukeba is in a similar mould to Josko Gvardiol when he was at RB Leipzig, a hybrid left back and centre back who has great physical qualities to play both positions, but the difference between the two is that Lukeba is more defensive minded than Gvardiol and looks to stay back rather than bomb forward as the Frenchman has just the 1 goal for Leipzig in nearly 2 seasons and is yet to register an assist for the club.

What might be appealing for Liverpool is that Lukeba could also be the succession plan for Virgil Van Dijk, as Lukeba could fill in at left back for the next couple of seasons and when the Dutchman eventually leaves, he could slot in at centre back if that's what the team needs in a few seasons.

Lukeba could already start for Liverpool, but he also has gigantic potential with great physical attributes, good defensive reading of the game and good ball skills and is comfortable playing out the back, whether through passing or dribbling and learning of Van Dijk and Ibrahim Konate, he could become one of the worlds best.

The worry with spending this much on Lukeba is that whilst he is good on the ball and decent going forward, he isn't elite and with Trent Alexander-Arnold likely leaving, having another primary defensive full back may effect Liverpool going forward and put a lot of pressure on Conor Bradley to produce attacking flair from right back.

Mid-Range - Milos Kerkez

Cost - £45 million

Kerkez is the likely option for Liverpool this summer as the Bournemouth full back is very similar in style to Robertson, providing an attacking threat down the left hand side with bundles of pace and energy with ability to be a threat all game with great stamina as well.

Kerkez has massively improved his end product this season, going from 1 assist last season for Bournemouth in his debut PL season, to 2 goals and 5 assists this season and only Antonee Robinson, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Alexander-Arnold are the defenders who assisted more than Kerkez in the PL this season.

Image: Getty

At 21 years old, Kerkez is physically a lot better than Robertson, and that's shown in the duels won this season, as Kerkez has won 4.2 duels per game, whilst Robertson just 1.9 and what Kerkez does have on his side compared to other players is that he has done it in the PL and has not once looked out of place despite arriving at just 19 years old.

The downside to signing Kerkez is that at Bournemouth he has the licence to go forward at every opportunity, which suits his physical style, but at Liverpool he might be asked to do what Robertson has done this season and be a bit more conservative than he used to be and play a bit deeper and whilst Kerkez can probably still fulfil that role, it's not the same role he's playing at Bournemouth this season.

Budget Option - Quentin Merlin

Cost - £20 million

If Liverpool are looking at a budget option for left back and maybe looking for someone a bit younger that they can bed into the team over the season, Merlin from Marseille could be the ideal choice as the French left back has shown real promise and quality since breaking through at Nantes at 19 years old in the 21/22 season.

Image: Getty

Now at 22, Merlin has been first choice since he arrived at Marseille in January of last year with his skillset better suited to being in an attacking role with 0.45 goal creating actions per90 this season, which is more than Robertson (0.12), Kerkez (0.29) and Lukeba (0.07).

Merlin does struggle defensively, winning just 45.5% of his tackles and 31.8% of his ariel duels, which is the lowest in both stats in comparison to Robertson, Kerkez and Lukeba.

Right Back

With Trent Alexander-Arnold likely leaving on a free at the end of the season, Liveprool with have to dip into the market with only Conor Bradley left in that position and whilst Bradley has shown promise over the past two seasons, he has started just 13 PL games and it might be a gamble to put all their faith in him and not go out and buy a first choice right back to compete with him.

Image: Getty

A right back in this Liverpool squad needs to have the attacking qualities to link up with Mo Salah, as leaving him isolated on the right wing with no threat around him could hurt his threat, and like what Alexander-Arnold has been doing for years with Salah, having the quality to get him the ball early and then get up the pitch to link up with him creates so much danger.

Premium - Pedro Porro

Cost - £60 million

If Liverpool are going to go down the premium route, they will need to go with a player they no can do it in the PL and whilst Porro has had his struggles in the PL, mostly defensively but he is as similar as you can get to a Trent replacement that is ready made for the role.

Over the past 2 seasons in the PL, Porro actually has more attacking output in goals and assists than Trent, with Porro amount 5 goals and 12 assists, with Trent managing 5 goals and 10 assists.

Image: Getty

What would also be beneficial with purchasing Porro is that he plays a similar role at Spurs, having the licence to roam forward both moving into midfield and overlapping, which Trent has been doing all season under Slot, which would make the move more seamless than others who have to adapt their game to the role.

Whilst Porro is not great defensively, he is better than Trent whose defensive struggles have been well known for many years, with Trent winning just 46.5% of his tackles and 20% if his ariel duels, whilst Porro has won 59.2% of his tackles and 33.3% if his ariel duels.

Whilst Porro's attacking numbers are up their with the best, his defensive stats, despite being better than Trent's, are still not elite and Slot at times this season has not been happy with Trent's defensive commitment, so paying a lot of money for someone who could provide the same struggles for the team could be seen as a waste of resources.

Mid-Range - Jeremie Frimpong

Cost - £33 million

Frimpong is a strange case entering this summer's transfer market as he has a low release clause and everyone knows how much quality he has but a lot of teams who play a back four will be sceptical of signing him as like with Trent, he really struggles defensively and that can put a lot of teams off.

Image: Getty

As a wing back for Bayer Leverkusen, Frimpong has been outstanding, with 40 goals and assists in the Bundesliga over the past three seasons and could bring a different dynamism into the Liverpool squad as he is an elite dribbler rather than passer, with Frimpong averaging 1.18 passes into the penalty area per 90 and 1.31 carries into the penalty area per 90, compared to Trent averaging 2.6 passes and 0.34 carries.

Whilst Frimpong is clearly elite at what he does, it is very specialist in what he does and may not suit what is needed, especially the passing ability to help Salah, but at £33 million, the risk maybe worth it for Liverpool as if it does workout, there's not many players in world football who can deal with the pace and dribbling ability of Frimpong.

Budget Option - Ola Aina

Cost - Free

Aina has been very impressive this season and has been a big help in Nottingham Forest's impressive campaign, which could end with Champions League football and with his contract expiring in the summer, Liverpool have the perfect opportunity to bring in a PL ready right back for nothing.

Image: Getty

Aina will likely get a big offer from Nottingham Forest to stay past the end of the season, but if Liverpool do come in for Aina, it will likely be hard for him to reject to join the PL champions, especially at 28 years of age.

Aina will likely be a signing that can contribute straight away, but also make a pathway in which Bradley will take over as first choice when he is certainly ready to do so.

Aina will be able to contribute straight away and whilst he doesn't excel at one single thing, he is an all-rounder who is good at everything but like Frimpong, on the ball he is more of a dribbler than a passer, so he may not be to Slot's liking, but of he is willing to come and Slot does have faith in Bradley to become the first choice right back, bringing Aina for free makes a lot of sense, especially because they are also losing Trent for free.