Liverpool’s Transfer Strategy: Right Wing, Right-Back, and Sporting Director Changes
Less than a month to go. Liverpool are in the United States with Andoni Iraola putting his stamp on pre-season, and yet every conversation around Anfield seems to loop back to the same subjects: who replaces Mohamed Salah, who backs up Alexander Isak, and who will be calling the shots in the recruitment department by September?
This is a club in transition, and not just on the touchline.
Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konaté have all walked away for nothing at the end of last season. The spine of a dressing room has gone, and the market has become as important as the training pitch. The questions from supporters are blunt. The answers, right now, are not always as clear.
Bajcetic at Right-Back? Not Any Time Soon
One of the more imaginative ideas comes from those wondering if Stefan Bajcetic could be repurposed as a right-back under Iraola.
He has done it before. Just once, back in September 2023. It didn’t convince.
Bajcetic’s battle at the moment isn’t about learning a new role. It’s about getting his body back to the level where he can play regularly at all. That may even mean another loan move to build rhythm and resilience. Only once he’s re-established as a dependable senior option does any positional experiment become remotely realistic.
For now, the notion of him emerging as a genuine right-back solution for Liverpool sits a long way down the road.
Life After Salah: Liverpool’s Search for a New Right Wing
The most pressing issue is obvious. How do you replace Salah?
Liverpool were prepared to go big. An £86m move for Yan Diomande was on the table, but RB Leipzig refused to play ball at that price and the player himself appears to be leaning towards Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG’s Bradley Barcola is firmly on the Reds’ shortlist, but his valuation has soared beyond £100m. Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh has been assessed. So have Said El Mala of Köln and Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo. Earlier in the window, Liverpool also made an enquiry about Monaco’s Maghnes Akliouche.
None of those names has moved yet this summer. That matters. It keeps doors open and suggests Liverpool are not alone in waiting for the right moment, or the right price.
Scouts are working beyond that initial list, and this is a club that has never been afraid of a left-field call when the obvious options become inflated or unavailable. What is not in doubt is the priority. Iraola has been clear: a new right-winger is not a luxury. It is imperative.
Isak, Ekitike and the Thin Line at Centre-Forward
Another concern: centre-forward.
Alexander Isak is the only senior, natural option through the middle, and his record with minor injuries means Liverpool know they are walking a tightrope. The long-term absence of Hugo Ekitike only sharpens that edge.
The plan is to strengthen the forward line from the right, but there is room — and arguably a need — for one more addition who can ease the load on Isak. If that signing doesn’t arrive, Iraola will have to get creative again.
Cody Gakpo has already been used as an emergency No.9 and may be asked to reprise that role in spells. Florian Wirtz could be redeployed as a false nine. Federico Chiesa is another name who can operate centrally. None of them truly convinced there last season, which is why the question keeps coming back.
Behind them, the academy stands ready in theory, if not yet in experience. When fit, Jayden Danns sits ahead of Will Wright in the pecking order. It is a plan, but not one Liverpool will want to rely on from August to May.
Richard Hughes and the Next Sporting Director
The uncertainty is not limited to the pitch.
Inside the recruitment structure, there is a growing expectation that sporting director Richard Hughes will leave once the summer window closes. His most likely destination is Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.
If that happens, Liverpool face yet another reset in a role that has already seen too much churn in recent years. One potential route would be to look internally. Julian Ward, currently technical director for Fenway Sports Group, has done the job at Anfield before and would be an obvious candidate.
At this stage, though, there is no indication that a successor is lined up or agreed. For a club trying to navigate a pivotal window, that is a subplot that could quickly become the main story if not handled cleanly.
Kids on Tour: Who’s Really Close?
The tour of the United States has a strong academy flavour. That always excites supporters. The reality is more nuanced.
A cluster of youngsters have already tasted senior or loan football: James McConnell, Lewis Koumas, Calum Scanlon, Luke Chambers, Harvey Davies. Most of them are likely to head back out on loan again to keep their development moving.
Then there are those just starting to make noise. Sixteen-year-old winger Josh Abe has created a real buzz, but his next step is more likely to be regular minutes in Premier League 2 with the under-21s and outings in the UEFA Youth League for the under-19s, rather than a Premier League breakthrough.
Two names stand out as realistic short-term contenders for first-team involvement: Will Wright and Kieran Morrison. Wright has travelled and is highly thought of. Morrison, 19, signed a new deal in the summer and already has two senior appearances to his name. Both could easily find themselves in the League Cup squad come September.
New 18-year-old centre-back Ifeanyi Ndukwe will also have opportunities to impress Iraola on tour. Pre-season is his audition.
The Right-Back Puzzle and Djed Spence
Right-back is where Liverpool’s squad planning feels most delicate.
Iraola has made it clear: Conor Bradley is his first choice. The problem is he is still months away from returning. Jeremie Frimpong is next in line, a thrilling outlet going forward but less reliable defensively and already showing signs of being injury-prone since arriving last summer.
Last season, Liverpool patched the position together. Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo all filled in. Gomez is now needed centrally. Endo is still working back to full fitness. Jones and Szoboszlai are midfielders by trade and by instinct.
The ideal solution? Either a centre-back who can also operate at right-back, giving cover in two positions, or a specialist right-back on a season-long loan. Liverpool do not want to spend heavily on a player they openly accept will drop down the pecking order once Bradley is fully fit — although his patchy injury record as a professional is a factor that cannot be ignored.
Into that discussion steps the name Djed Spence.
On paper, he answers the position. In reality, he fits neither of Liverpool’s preferred profiles. He would be expensive, and he is not a hybrid centre-back/right-back. There is also a wider warning in play here: buying a player off the back of a strong World Cup — or any short burst of form on a big stage — remains one of the quickest routes to regret in the market.
Liverpool know that. They have been burned before. The temptation will be there as the window ticks down and the pressure rises, but this summer is about structure, not impulse.
The clock is running. The holes in the squad are obvious. How decisively Liverpool fill them will shape not just Iraola’s first season, but the direction of the club for years to come.
