All summer, Andoni Iraola has said that he will be "comfortable" come the start of September when the transfer window is over and he has certainty over his squad. Senior figures at Liverpool said from the outset that this was never going to be a transfer window like last summer, when the club spent a then record £415m under Arne Slot and broke the British transfer record twice by signing Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. Last summer, Liverpool also made £188m from selling players such as Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah and ended the window with a net spend of £227m.
If you include Jeremy Jacquet (a deal confirmed in January), then Liverpool's net spend is not hugely dissimilar this summer at just under £200m - having also signed Victor Munoz, Ronald Araujo on loan and Bradley Barcola for a combined total of £217.5m. But they have lost senior figures with Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate all leaving for free and Curtis Jones moving to Inter Milan in a deal worth £30m. Liverpool then rejected a bid worth £80m from Manchester City for Cody Gakpo as they were unable to get a replacement.
On the basis of their first two Premier League games, there is certainly a feeling that Liverpool have left themselves short after their struggles last season. Where concern lies is the lack of quality squad depth at the back and the absence of an out-and-out defensive midfielder but Iraola's side will end the window having made the second most expensive signing of the summer in France forward Barcola, who chose the Reds despite interest from other clubs including Arsenal. Sources at Paris St-Germain described the Barcola deal - worth £123m - as part of the "greatest super sub window ever" after they made more than £280m in the sales of five players - including Goncalo Ramos, Lee Kang-in, Randal Kolo Muani and Ibrahim Mbaye - who often featured on the bench last season.
Despite struggling for the game time he wanted at PSG, Liverpool believe they have secured one of the most outstanding wide attacking talents in world football. Liverpool fans could see their first glimpse of 24-year-old Barcola on Friday when Iraola's side travel to Ipswich. And there is a belief inside the club that the combined £364m trio of Wirtz, Isak and Barcola could become one of the most feared attacks in Europe.
Anfield needs some excitement after a below-par campaign last season which ultimately saw Slot lose the support of the fanbase and his job, a year after winning the Premier League. Liverpool conceded twice in both league games so far and Iraola will be worried by how easily his side have been cut open. Defensively, Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley are sidelined with long-term injuries and Joe Gomez's pre-season injury prompted Liverpool to bring in Araujo on loan from Barcelona.
The experienced Uruguayan, 27, is a stop-gap for now but Liverpool have an option to buy him for £47m next summer, when Virgil van Dijk's current contract expires. Meanwhile, Leoni, 19, and Jacquet, 21, are viewed internally as two of the best young centre-backs in Europe. Liverpool are well stocked in that department when you include promising teenage defenders like Mor Talla Ndiaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe, who impressed in pre-season.
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