Liverpool's 2027 Squad Outlook: Changes and New Talent
Andoni Iraola has barely settled into the Liverpool job, but the outlines of his 2026/27 squad are already being drawn. Some of it is by design. Some of it is being forced on the club by contracts, age and opportunity. Either way, the Liverpool dressing room is heading for a serious reshuffle.
Endo on the Edge
The first sign came quietly. Wataru Endo sat on the bench for the entirety of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur. He stayed there. Unused.
For a 33-year-old already left out of the Champions League squad and out of contract at the end of the season, the message was loud enough.
Iraola spoke respectfully about him last week, but the reality was clear.
“Wata lost quite a lot of the pre-season,” the head coach said. “He is still not at his best but he is training very well. The problem is in front of him in his position I have a lot of players. He is competing against a lot of players.
“We are giving minutes to Trey, Ryan, Alexis and Dom, players that I am selecting right now. But Wata is definitely a player that I like and for sure he will have his moments.”
Those “moments” are yet to arrive. Against Spurs, Trey Nyoni and James McConnell both started ahead of him, flanking Alexis Mac Allister in midfield. Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch were sent on before the Japan international was even considered.
Just as with Lewis Koumas nudging ahead of Federico Chiesa in Iraola’s thinking, the pattern is obvious. The new manager is backing youth, energy and long-term value over senior fringe options. Endo’s game-time was already limited under Arne Slot; nothing suggests a revival now.
He turns 34 in February. As things stand, he walks away for nothing in the summer. Reports this week have pointed to a possible January sale to claw back a fee before his deal expires. One way or another, the ending feels written.
And he is far from alone.
Heavyweights Running Down Their Deals
Look down Liverpool’s contract list and the scale of potential change hits home. As it stands, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas all reach the end of their deals next summer. All are currently on course to leave as free agents alongside Endo.
Back-up goalkeeper Harvey Davies is also listed as out of contract, according to Transfermarkt. Of course, that does not mean the club will simply wave all of them through the exit door without talks. But the clock is ticking.
Ronald Araujo’s situation is different. His season-long loan from Barcelona expires next summer, but Liverpool hold a £47m purchase option on the Uruguay defender. Decide to trigger it and one big question in defence is answered. Decline, and another hole opens up.
Either way, the spine that has defined Liverpool for years is approaching a crossroads.
Deals Already Locked In
For all the uncertainty, some of Liverpool’s future business is already done. The first three signings of 2027 are agreed and waiting.
Djylian N’Guessan will officially become a Liverpool player in January after a €5m deal with Saint-Etienne. The 18-year-old forward will, however, finish the season on loan at Stade Brest in Ligue 1 before arriving at Anfield for good.
Lucca Brughmans is also on the way. Liverpool have struck a £30m agreement with KRC Genk for the teenage goalkeeper. The plan is for him to complete the campaign in Belgium, though the club have the option to bring him over in January if they choose.
Samuel Martinez will follow from Atletico Nacional once he turns 18, joining in a £750,000 move as another young playmaker added to the production line.
There is also a big decision parked for 2027. Liverpool hold a £55m option to re-sign Jarell Quansah from Bayer Leverkusen. The ECHO understands the England centre-half has already agreed personal terms on a potential Anfield contract. If Liverpool pull the trigger, the deal is ready to go.
The Loan Army Coming Home
The picture gets even more crowded when you factor in returning loanees.
Harvey Elliott is due back from a season-long spell at Valencia, his contract running through to 2028. Iraola will have a creative, homegrown midfielder returning at a prime age.
Ifeanyi Ndukwe has just ticked off a key milestone. After making his debut for Levante, the Austrian now qualifies for a work permit in England. Liverpool could recall him as early as January, or let him finish his La Liga season before bringing him to Merseyside in the summer.
Armin Pecsi and Kieran Morrison are due back from TSV Hartberg and Sheffield Wednesday respectively. Calvin Ramsay’s story is different: his loan at St Mirren coincides with the final year of his Liverpool contract, and he is set to move on as a free agent.
Calum Scanlon and Keyrol Figueroa are spending the season at Cardiff City and Port Vale. Amara Nallo, Kornel Misciur and Kyle Kelly are out until the new year with HJK, Leek Town and Forest Green Rovers.
Fabian Mrozek is on loan at FC Cincinnati, where the MLS club hold an option to sign him permanently. If they take it, that is one less goalkeeper returning to complicate the depth chart.
Kids No Longer Kids
There is another subtle but important shift coming. From next season, any player born before 1 January 2006 must be registered in Liverpool’s Premier League and European squads if they are to feature.
That means Jeremy Jacquet, Lewis Koumas, Armin Pecsi and Michael Laffey will no longer sit in the Under-21 bracket. The same goes for Scanlon and Kelly. They will either be fully part of the senior picture or moved on.
Those decisions will bite hard when Liverpool submit their squad lists.
Homegrown Balancing Act
The homegrown quota, so often a quiet subplot, will shape Liverpool’s options.
Conor Bradley, Elliott, McConnell, Koumas, Vitezslav Jaros, Freddie Woodman and Jeremie Frimpong are all under contract for next season and would count as homegrown. The first five qualify as club-trained for European competition, while Frimpong and Woodman are academy-trained.
Luke Chambers, Scanlon, Kaide Gordon, Isaac Mabaya, Owen Beck, Laffey and Kelly would all need registering if they remain at the club.
As things stand, Gomez and Davies are scheduled to leave as free agents. Transfermarkt also lists Chambers and Gordon as out of contract next summer. Lose all of them and Liverpool’s homegrown core thins out quickly.
Non-Homegrown Squeeze
On the non-homegrown side, Liverpool currently occupy all 17 slots for the 2026/27 campaign. That logjam should ease if Van Dijk, Alisson, Endo and Tsimikas do indeed reach the end of their contracts and depart.
If Araujo is not signed permanently and returns to Barcelona, that frees another space.
Chiesa is the obvious candidate to move on. His deal runs until 2028, but he has never been more than a fringe figure at Anfield and has been overtaken in the pecking order.
Mac Allister’s situation is more delicate. The Argentina international has publicly revealed that the club told him they were not currently in a position to offer him a new contract. That uncertainty will not quieten speculation around his future.
Cody Gakpo’s name will also resurface. He came close to leaving in the summer amid interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. Another season on the fringes and the conversation restarts.
Giorgi Mamardashvili has also been linked with a move away, adding another potential twist in the goalkeeping department.
Ndukwe and Brughmans, as Under-21s, would not need registering for Premier League duty. For Europe, though, they would require non-homegrown slots, with neither eligible for List B. That subtle detail could dictate which youngsters actually see continental minutes.
Strip it back to the basics: assume the out-of-contract players leave and Liverpool buy Araujo. In that scenario, they would have 15 senior non-homegrown players, with Jacquet and Pecsi stepping up from Under-21 status. Ndukwe and Brughmans could then, in theory, fill the final two European berths.
But that is the bare minimum model. Reality will be busier.
The Skeleton of a 2026/27 Squad
If you sketch out Liverpool’s potential 2026/27 squad on those assumptions, it starts to look like this:
- Goalkeepers: Mamardashvili, Woodman (HG), Jaros (HG), Pecsi, Brughmans (U21)*.
- Defenders: Jacquet, Milos Kerkez, Bradley (HG), Leoni (U21), Frimpong (HG), Araujo, Scanlon (HG), Beck (HG), Ndukwe (U21)*.
- Midfielders: Florian Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Elliott (HG), Gravenberch, Nyoni (U21), McConnell (HG).
That is not a finished squad. It is a framework. Holes remain in attack, depth questions linger in midfield, and the futures of some of the club’s biggest names are unresolved.
What is clear, though, is the direction of travel. Younger, more flexible, heavy on upside and potential resale value. Established stars on big contracts facing hard choices. A manager unafraid to throw teenagers into major games ahead of seasoned internationals.
Liverpool’s 2026/27 squad will not just be a tweak of what you see now. It will be a different dressing room, with a different hierarchy and a new core.
The only real question is how ruthless the club is prepared to be to get there.
