With less than three weeks left to go until the summer transfer window closes, there is still a lot left to be resolved at Anfield. There is no denying this is far from an ideal situation for Jürgen Klopp. Liverpool has been a little idle over the last month in the market, and after making a Hail Mary attempt last week, which backfired, has now been left scrambling.
Where to go next will be the priority question for Klopp.
He needs to make a decision whether to attempt to sign one premium midfielder or two — maybe not quite as high-quality but with more potential. The reality is that Liverpool probably needs at least two more midfield signings, and probably a defender as well to be completely satisfied ahead of what promises to be a long season with Europa League football.
That will throw up questions about logistics within the squad. Currently, there are two more non-homegrown spot left for Liverpool to fill. But there are a lot more spaces left in the homegrown department, with just Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Caoimhin Kelleher, Joe Gomez and Nat Phillips qualifying as homegrown players, meaning there is room for Klopp to add three more before any outgoings.
That number could rise to four given the fact that Klopp also needs to resolve the future of Phillips. The Liverpool center-back was not even involved in pre-season with the first team and it’s clear he needs to move away from Anfield in order to revive his career. Liverpool has to be fair and allow him to depart for pastures new.
Inevitably that will make the squad a little bit weaker, but the club cannot afford to keep hoarding Phillips without giving him the appropriate playing time he needs to progress in his career. He should also net a reasonable transfer fee.
With three potential arrivals and the need to resolve Phillips’ future, that’s at least four big decisions Klopp has to make with less than three weeks to go.
On top of that, Klopp has considerations to make in the loan market as well.
Tyler Morton is one example of a player whose future needs to be decided. Unfortunate to miss out on playing time in pre-season because of an injury, he was impressive at Blackburn last season and is held in high regard at the club.
Considering he plays in a position where Liverpool is short of options at the moment, he is something of a rare commodity in the squad. As an academy graduate he is also a player who can easily be registered for Liverpool’s Europa League squad, where Klopp could definitely make use of him in the group stages.
But there must also be interest in him to take him out on loan once again, and so Liverpool still needs to consider what may be the next best step for his career before the window shuts.
The Reds won’t want to keep Morton in similar limbo to Phillips and therefore have to come to a decision.
There’s plenty of work left to be done for Klopp and his team and that’s before even mentioning some of the academy players other than Morton who could also be on the move. Now busy with preparations for Premier League fixtures as well, it promises to be a hectic couple of weeks ahead.