Iraola's Defensive Wishlist: Liverpool Targets Tomori

Andoni Iraola has barely settled into the Liverpool dugout, but his transfer wishlist is already taking shape – and it has a distinctly defensive feel.

With pre-season in the United States offering encouraging signs but also exposing gaps, Liverpool have opened initial lines of communication with AC Milan over centre-back Fikayo Tomori, as the new head coach searches for experience and reliability at the heart of his back line.

Iraola steps up – and looks back

This is a major leap for Iraola. From Bournemouth to Anfield is not a change of scenery, it is a change of orbit. He knows it.

“I want to think now I am better than I was last year, one more year of experience in the Premier League,” he told reporters on Thursday, acknowledging both his growth and the scale of what awaits him on Merseyside.

The demands are higher. The scrutiny will be relentless. And the squad he inherits has already been jolted by significant movement.

Jeremy Jacquet has arrived from Rennes and Victor Munoz from Osasuna, a combined outlay just shy of £95m that underlines Liverpool’s commitment to refreshing the group. They are young, dynamic signings, the kind that fit a long-term project.

Yet seniority has drained away at the same time. Ibrahima Konate and Andrew Robertson have both walked out on free transfers. Mohamed Salah’s deal has been cut short a year early. That is a lot of know-how, a lot of dressing-room weight, gone in one summer.

Iraola has spoken of a “different challenge” and the need to “adapt tactically to new scenarios”. The tour, he says, is going well. Integration of senior players is “progressive”. The direction, he insists, is good.

But the squad still looks light in key areas. The pressure to act has not eased.

Defence at the front of the queue

So the focus has snapped onto the back line. According to Italian outlet TuttoJuve, Liverpool have made initial contact with Milan over Tomori, who has entered the final 12 months of his contract at San Siro.

For Iraola, a defender who is both seasoned and dependable ranks among the club’s main priorities. Tomori fits that profile.

Talks, at this stage, are described as early. Liverpool have not yet moved to the point of a formal bid and still need clarity on what Milan would demand for the 28-year-old. With only a year left on his deal, the situation is edging towards a decision point, but Milan are not acting like a club under pressure.

The report stresses that the Serie A side retain “full control of the situation” and are not keen to let the 6ft 1in defender leave on the cheap. Extending his contract remains on the table, and Juventus have also been linked, keeping the market around him warm without yet boiling over.

Tomori’s Milan chapter

Tomori’s career has already taken in one major reset. After coming through the ranks at Chelsea, he crossed the Channel to Milan five years ago and has since carved out a substantial role at one of Europe’s most storied clubs.

He has racked up 214 appearances for the Rossoneri, anchoring a defence that has delivered silverware: a Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana. His time in Italy has hardened him, sharpened his positional sense, and proved he can carry responsibility in a high-pressure environment.

That is exactly the kind of pedigree Liverpool’s evolving back line now lacks.

A new partner for Van Dijk – or a new hierarchy?

If Liverpool manage to prise Tomori away, the knock-on effects inside Iraola’s defence would be immediate.

Virgil van Dijk remains the reference point, the standard-setter. The question is who stands alongside him when the season starts. Jacquet has arrived with a hefty price tag and clear potential. Joe Gomez offers versatility and experience in the system and the league. Giovanni Leoni will come back into the picture once fit.

Drop Tomori into that mix and the competition sharpens. Does Iraola lean into Tomori’s big-game experience and pair him with Van Dijk from the outset? Or does he trust the new arrivals and existing options to grow into the role while Tomori, if signed, rotates in?

Those are the tactical dilemmas Liverpool want – but only if they first win the battle to sign him.

For now, Milan hold the cards. Liverpool have made their move, quietly, cautiously. The next few weeks will reveal whether this is just due diligence or the opening step in a defensive rebuild that could define Iraola’s first season at Anfield.