Liverpool added just three new senior players to their squad, yet still topped the Premier League's chart for new spend during the summer transfer window. The majority of that £251.8m was set aside for Bradley Barcola, who joined on a five-year deal from Paris Saint-Germain last week for £123m.
Victor Munoz, whose Osasuna release clause was £34.5m, was a relatively low cost addition by modern standards, while £60m was earmarked in January for Jeremy Jacquet's July 1 arrival. The £4.3m move to sign striker Djylian N'Guessan in January and the £30m deal for goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans were agreed with one eye on the future.
Additionally, Ronald Araujo joined on loan from Barcelona with a fee set at £47m next summer if the Uruguay international impresses. Questions have been asked over the decision not to recruit a replacement for Curtis Jones, now of Inter, and there has also been some concern expressed about the right-back situation while Conor Bradley continues his recovery from a long-term knee injury.
Goalkeeper and Defence
Despite all the moving furniture in Liverpool's goalkeeping department in the last few years, Brazil international Alisson remains the centrepiece. Now into his ninth season on Merseyside, the long-serving shot-stopper could be in the final months of a legendary spell given this is the last term of his contract. He remains firmly established as Liverpool's No. 1, however, and will go down as one of the greatest to ever wear the goalkeeper's shirt at Anfield.
Liverpool have an issue at right-back until Conor Bradley returns to being 100%. The Northern Ireland international has been out since a serious knee injury in a goalless draw at Arsenal in January and is nowhere nearer a return, based on recent comments from Iraola. Jeremie Frimpong has struggled to fill the void so far in the two games he has started and while Ronald Araujo might be more suited in the centre, the Uruguay international was rock solid in the full-back role in Friday's 2-0 win at Ipswich Town.
Joe Gomez is another viable option when fit again but the long-serving and versatile defender hasn't played since limping out of the first pre-season game of the summer, against Sunderland in Nashville, after just eight minutes. Frimpong offers more in the final third than either Gomez or Araujo - two centre-backs-by-trade - but the former Bayer Leverkusen flyer has yet to hit the heights as a Liverpool player and might be better suited to being an impact sub offensively right now. Jeremy Jacquet has made an encouraging start to Liverpool life and Virgil van Dijk remains peerless at centre-half. Milos Kerkez, at £40m, is the future on the left side of the defence.
Midfield and Attacking Options
Iraola will likely take a horses-for-courses approach to his midfield this season with three players battling for two spots overall. Trey Nyoni and Wataru Endo will be called upon at times but more often than not the head coach will choose between Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai for his two-man pivot. Szoboszlai is the only man to start all three matches so far and Mac Allister has been entrusted alongside the vice-captain in the last two fixtures.
Szoboszlai and Gravenberch showed in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle that their natural willingness to gallivant forward can leave the midfield area vacant, making the Reds vulnerable to counter-attacks. It's a partnership that will take some time to develop based on the early evidence. Szoboszlai is a runner while Gravenberch is a carrier, so it feels prudent to have the less mobile, more defensively secure Mac Allister alongside one or the other for the time being in the centre of the park. Liverpool's engine room feels a little light this season and they will need plenty of good luck on the injury front in that regard.
The decision to loan Harvey Elliott to Valencia means the No.10 position is Florian Wirtz's own at Liverpool this season. Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Nyoni can all operate there to various degrees but Wirtz will start whenever he is fit. It's up to the German playmaker to justify that faith this season.
Forward Line and Key Threats
Liverpool's options through the middle are almost nonexistent behind Alexander Isak. So like Wirtz, when the £125m striker is fit, he must start. That means Isak will have to be handled delicately as the campaign goes on, particularly given Hugo Ekitike will need time to get back fit when he eventually returns from his ruptured Achilles; that recovery process is still some months away from completion. Isak has started superbly, scoring three times in as many games, and the feeling that he is ready to push on towards the levels that made him a £125m striker to begin with is gathering momentum. It is imperative he stays fit.
On the left, Liverpool broke the bank to bring Barcola in from PSG and while he has only played around 25 minutes since mid-July, the France international will start most weeks once he is up to speed. That means the in-form Cody Gakpo must learn to become effective off the right side. He set up Isak with a wonderful piece of play in last week's 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest but his assists for both of Isak's goals in the 2-0 victory over Ipswich were supplied from the left-hand side.
Gakpo is as important to Liverpool right now as he has probably ever been, however, and while his future was up in the air shortly before the transfer window closed - with Manchester City looking to do an £85m deal - the Netherlands attacker now has the chance to build on a strong start to the campaign and become a totem for Iraola across the forward positions. Victor Munoz adds strength in depth and it will be interesting to see how the electric Rio Ngumoha develops further after a hugely encouraging 12 months.
