The season has started, but Liverpool still feel stuck in pre-season debate. Andoni Iraola is on the touchline, the Jurgen Klopp era already part of club folklore, yet Anfield walks into deadline day with key issues unresolved and a fanbase braced more for turbulence than a title tilt.
A home competitive debut for Iraola against Nottingham Forest looms on Saturday lunchtime. The League Cup is around the corner. The Champions League group stage is coming fast. For a club that prides itself on planning, the mood is oddly improvised.
The Salah Succession Plan That Slipped Away
Imsalim’s question cuts straight to the point: if Liverpool knew Mohamed Salah was going, why did they leave the search for his successor until the final days of the window?
They didn’t. At least not in their own minds.
Liverpool moved early for Yan Diomande at the start of the summer, identifying the Ivorian as the heir to Salah’s right flank. The player was keen, the deal looked possible. Then RB Leipzig named their price and the whole thing changed. The fee became prohibitive, and Diomande, sensing his market, effectively used Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain as leverage to engineer a move to Real Madrid. He is hardly the first to do that, and he won’t be the last.
That setback left Liverpool scrambling. Their next major attacking focus, Bradley Barcola, hit a similar wall. PSG wanted big money and refused to blink. Liverpool, already burned once, found themselves chasing a specialist right winger with the clock ticking and the market hardening.
So here they are: a club of Liverpool’s stature hunting a key starter in the final days of the window. It looks messy. It feels reactive. Even if half the Premier League is doing the same thing, that is not the company Liverpool expected to keep when it came to squad planning.
Iraola’s Midfield: No “Best Three”, Just the Right Three
Ross asks what Iraola’s best midfield will be, especially with no defensive midfielder seemingly on the way.
The blunt answer: there may not be a single “best” trio at all.
Under Klopp, Liverpool often picked midfields tailored to specific opponents. Iraola appears set to follow a similar “horses for courses” approach. The core, though, is clear. Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai are the main contenders for the two deeper roles. Szoboszlai also stands as the natural alternative to Florian Wirtz in the number 10 position when Iraola wants a more aggressive attacking shape.
Beyond that, the options thin out. Wataru Endo has started just two Premier League games in more than two seasons. Trey Nyoni carries huge expectations, but not yet a single top-flight start. On paper, Liverpool still lack a specialist defensive midfielder who can lock down transitions and protect a back line that has already shown familiar cracks.
Some around the club have been calling for that signing for over a year. The call has not gone away. The player, so far, has.
Hughes on the Move, and a Familiar Void Upstairs
Jay86 wants clarity on Richard Hughes. Is the sporting director really heading out as the window closes?
The expectation inside the game is yes. Hughes is widely tipped to leave his role at Liverpool once this summer’s business is done, with Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League emerging as his most likely next stop.
What comes after him is less clear. Liverpool have cycled through sporting directors in recent years and could once again turn to Julian Ward, currently technical director at Fenway Sports Group, as an internal solution. At this stage, though, there is no firm indication that a successor is lined up or agreed.
For a club trying to reset under a new head coach, another change in the recruitment department adds yet more uncertainty at a time when stability would be priceless.
Gakpo, Isak and the Thin Line Up Front
PT raises another delicate issue: if Liverpool are even considering selling Cody Gakpo, who backs up Alexander Isak?
On the surface, it makes little sense. Liverpool need more firepower, not less. Letting Gakpo go would only be logical if the player himself pushed for a move, and given the criticism he took from sections of the fanbase last season, that wouldn’t be hard to understand.
Yet his response has been emphatic. Gakpo has started this campaign like a man intent on staying, running hard, playing with purpose, and looking every bit like someone who sees his future at Anfield.
If he does depart late in the window, Liverpool would surely have to bring in at least two forwards. One of them would almost certainly serve as the dedicated understudy to Isak, at least until Hugo Ekitike returns from injury. That is a lot of upheaval for a frontline that already needs cohesion, not churn.
Injury Room: No Quick Fixes, Just Patience
OllieFoxy asks about the walking wounded: Giovanni Leoni, Joe Gomez, Hugo Ekitike and Conor Bradley.
The truth is, there are no firm dates. Only ranges, hopes and caution.
Ekitike has circled Boxing Day as his personal target, but the nature of his Achilles problem suggests Liverpool will not see the best version of him until next season. The club will not rush him; they can’t afford to.
Bradley has been sidelined since early January. After such a long lay-off, Liverpool are determined not to overload him. Minutes will be managed, and any return will be measured rather than dramatic.
Leoni is edging closer to joining full first-team training after almost a year out. Again, the approach is gentle. Expect limited game time before Christmas as he rebuilds rhythm and confidence.
Gomez, by contrast, is likely to return sooner than the rest. Even so, the fact he has already been out for a month is a concern, especially in a defence that has hardly been watertight.
A Fanbase on Edge
Bernie asks why the mood around Liverpool feels so negative. After all, how many games have they actually played?
The answer lies not in the fixture list but in the déjà vu. The problems on show in the opening match at Newcastle United were painfully familiar, echoing the defensive lapses and midfield imbalances that haunted last season. Supporters spent months talking about the need for reinforcements in obvious positions. They have watched the window tick down without seeing those issues fully addressed.
Yes, there is a new man in the dugout. Yes, there are tactical tweaks and fresh ideas. But on the pitch, the lack of new faces in key areas makes it hard for some fans to believe this story will end any differently.
Deadline day might still change the mood. A statement signing on the wing, a genuine defensive midfielder, a clear plan at centre-forward – any of those could tilt the narrative. Right now, though, the reality is stark.
For the first time in years, almost nobody expects Liverpool to challenge seriously for the title.
The season is young. The questions are not.
