Isakly What Was Needed: Liverpool Transfers Thread (2025-26)

In retrospect, we needed one of Isak/Ekitike and replaced Luis. I’d like us to replace Gakpo with pace and the ability to run behind on both wings. You’ll get the best of Wirtz too.

I had no issues with our CB options, just more poor luck with a season long injury. Hope both kids return heathy.

It’s clear we need a DM this summer however. Macca and Gravy combo will not do in that position.

 

Liverpool have nine players linked with summer exits, including Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, 27, who is attracting interest from Europe, while England defender Joe Gomez, 28, remains a target for Crystal Palace, Brighton and AC Milan. (Telegraph - subscription required)

 

Isak has been cursed from the beginning as he was acquired as a bright shiny object rather than a thoughtfully assessed addition to a strategic team building plan. Then, the injuries. We were most likely never going to get anywhere near a full return performance-wise for what we have paid out for him so any fair assessment of him has to be considered within this context. In a perfect world I would be looking for the right set of circumstances to come along, to unload him and recoup a bit of our rather foolish investment.

 

Macca is best played in the Wirtz position IMO and same can be said about Szobo and Curtis. They can also play the Gravy position but I think we may sell one (along with Endo sadly) and replace with a DM alongside Gravy.

What’s happened to Bajcetic?

I’m also horrified by the lack of form and composure at the back. We never win 2nd balls. A proper DM will help but I do think we need a VVD and if he leaves, Konate replacements.

 

I was being a little pragmatic regarding Macca. I agree he’s my top candidate to sell and bring in a DM.
I mentioned when we originally bought Szobo that I’d like to see he and Gravy as the two. Both need to improve defensively and Dom needs to pickup the pace.

 

A wonder strike for the ages.

 

That's like saying we should have tamed Gerrard so he could play next to Masch instead of him playing further forward.

 

Part of the reason I didn't want Wirtz was because it was obvious that Dom was best played in an advanced position - the EXACT same position that Wirtz excelled in in Germany.
And Wirtz doesn't have the pace necessary to operate out wide.

Wirtz was signed because he was a supposed "generational talent" despite him existing in the position our next captain is best deployed in.
But it's obvious he isn't as 'generational' as some would have had us believe. But we can't have him be option #2 in his role because his price tag demands him be #1. And Barca isn't calling for him. Neither is madrid. So we can't sell him. So we're stuck with two of our better players vying for the same position and with the other being shoehorned into the team in an unnatural position.

The unbalanced nature of the squad is fully on Hughes & team.
Isak never should have been signed - adhering to the 'no knobhead' rule would have solved this - and especially after we secured the signing of Ekitike.
Had we turned our attention to Guehi instead of letting Hughes ego run rampant we could very well could have challenged for the title this season even with our unbalanced squad. Yes, I think Guehi would have made that much of a difference to us - he's 5-0 against us this season for f*cks sake, about to win cups in back-to-back years, and is set to anchor a potential World Cup winning side.

 

Not quite an equitable comparison tho and better than playing him at RB.

Given players at our disposal and Slot’s tactics, yes. I think Dom would be better partnering with Gravy than Macca, with Macca further forward. Benefits our transition defense

I still think we would be improved if both he and Wirtz played out wide. Not your standard wide forwards, but that’s where out playmaking would come from (like with Salah) with Macca and Curtis arriving late, as they do.

 

Yup we spent 240 Mill or whatever on two world class players we didn't need / didn't really fit into the team we were trying to re-create. Shoehorning Wirtz into the squad has been an ongoing challenge, and trading Guehi for Isak just makes my head hurt.

 

Yeah a lot of pieces didn't really fit together this season which I think is why we've looked so unbalanced much of the time. The reason for me is that we're only part way into the rebuild and we have many of Klopps squad along with the new guys Hughes has brought in and Slot hasn't been able to mesh them into something useful.
Having said that I'm still waiting to see how part 2 of the rebuild might correct some of our issues this summer. I think all of our signings last summer were good and if we buy the right guys this window things can quickly improve.
We need 2 wingers , a def mid, 1 maybe 2 cbs and a fb.

 

Which I suspect is hugely, largely why Slot stays. Speculation only, but Hughes and Edwards are far from fools in footballing matters. Pretty much any seasoned poster here, whatever about Hughes and Edwards, would be able to tell you that when you bring in 4-5 expected starters, maybe more, it’s going to take time to bed them in.

Some (Ekitike) hit the ground running, others are like a hibernating bear (Wirtz) who take time to wake up and then there are the imponderables (Isak). But I’ll bet that Slot, Hughes and Edwards (and others) all sat down last June/July and agreed or at least had a gentleman’s understanding that this would be a transition year, a bedding-in year, a looksee year with a review for the coming July also. Because if we’re honest here, the transition from Juergen 1.0 to Juergen 2.0 was only just beginning, with a midfield revamp. Even then, you have to see which midfielders work with which defenders and which midfielders work with which forwards. They may not necessarily be the same.

So they started with full/wing backs and then something odd happened. Wirtz, who was on our radar in the same way that Messi had been on our radar, Wirtz decided he wanted Liverpool. So ok, from an aspirational but unrealistic signing, we get the real thing. So now fit in Wirtz with the forwards and Szobozlai. Then lightening strikes twice and Isak decides he wants himself some Liverpool also. And add into the mix the very untimely death of Jota and Diaz’ insistence that he’s done.

So what you have is a mish-mash of a rebuild where it started with defense, wasn’t finished, and was hijacked by events and superstars and instead of being 8 parts defense and 2 parts attack, it was 6 parts defense and 4 parts attack. When the defense needed more than that.

I think we know by now, Slot is staying. He’s staying because he had a guarantee that this was a transition year where silverware was requested but not required. Rather than a quick fix revamp of the team, it now appears that the move from Salah, Firmino, Mane to Ekitike, Isak, Wirtz and the attendant changes at the back was seen as a 1-2 year project, maybe more. And that’s the guarantee under which Slot has been operating.

Slot, it would appear, was brought in, as they say in the business world, as a change agent, not as the operating agent. With the understanding that once he had effected the change, he would be allowed to become the operating agent. In respects winning the PL last season was the worst thing that could have happened to Slot from an expectation perspective. Like the signings of Wirtz and Isak, it was more an endeavor of luck and circumstance than strategic planning. I would expect next season under Slot to be a lot more coherent and focused. There still might not be silverware, but neither will we be losing 4-0 to PSG and being lucky it wasn’t more.

 

Manchester United and Liverpool have converged on Sporting CP star Morten Hjulmand, who is highly likely to move to the Premier League this summer, according to a report.

Liverpool hold an interest in a number of wingers including RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande, Hoffenheim’s Bazoumana Toure and Brighton‘s Yankuba Minteh,
The last guy we signed from Hoffenheim turned out to be pretty useful...

Marcos Senesi has emerged as a credible target for Liverpool this summer, with Anfield now his “most likely destination” as he prepares to leave Bournemouth.
I fully approve of this. This signing makes sense given he can play CB and LB.

Xabi Alonso would not be first choice if Arne Slot is removed as Liverpool manager.

Liverpool are keen on signing Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Archie Gray this summer, according to the Daily Mail.

The Reds are set to reignite their long-held interest in Sporting's Goncalo Ignacio.

Liverpool are interested in signing both Pedro Porro and Luka Vuskovic even if Tottenham manage to avoid relegation, according to reports.

Liverpool will refresh their midfield this summer with the signing of Alkmaar's Kees Smit.

Benfica's right-back Daniel Banjaqui is in the spotlight as Liverpool line-up a move.

 

I think Edwards/Hughes et al still believe Slot can be the right man if given the right squad to work with so will give him another chance with hopefully a more balanced group next season.

 

We don’t need to add any more Spursiness to our already Spursy team