When the summer 2025 transfer window closed, Liverpool were declared the winners.
The Premier League champions added Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni to their squad for a combined £400million.
It was a historic window and was supposed to usher in an era of sustained dominance for the Reds.
Now, with the January transfer window open, the summer splurge is being viewed completely differently.
Instead of the focus being on Arne Slot, Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s Sporting Director, is coming under fire.
The Reds went into the season light in key areas. This was flagged in August. At the time though, the transfer window was viewed as an unparalleled success, inspired by the likes of FIFA and Football Manager.
The reigning champions had added one of the best centre-forwards in the world to their ranks in Isak for a British record transfer fee, believed to be £125million.
They’d signed one of the most highly sought-after playmakers in Europe in Wirtz for a fee of £100million.
Ekitike, courted by the likes of Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester United, opted to move to Anfield for an initial £69million.
Kerkez, named in the PFA Team of the Year, joined for £40million with the Reds looking at futureproofing the left-back position.
Leoni, tipped to move to Inter, made the switch to Merseyside for £27million while Frimpong returned to England for a £30million fee.
On paper, Liverpool invested smartly. They signed players for the now and the future. Football isn’t played on paper though. To make these signings, the Reds had to make sacrifices. They had to make compromises to their squad.
Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez departed on a permanent basis while Harvey Elliott, someone who never really featured in Slot’s first-team plans last season, was loaned to Aston Villa. The tragic death of Diogo Jota also needs to be factored in here, too.
While Diaz was signed as a left-winger, he helped the Reds win the league as a false-nine. The squad lost three centre-forwards and signed two.
The idea, of course, was that Slot didn’t trust Darwin, so Isak and Ekitike could split the minutes racked up by Diaz, Jota and the maverick Uruguayan.
Elliott wasn’t relied upon but he could play as an attacking midfielder and fill in for Mohamed Salah on the right. The idea was likely that Dominik Szoboszlai would become that player and Wirtz would displace the Liverpool No8 as the man playing behind the striker.
In theory, Szoboszlai replaced Elliott and the duo of Isak and Ekitike replaced Jota, Diaz and Darwin. Wirtz and Ekitike could moonlight as left-wingers as required to give Gakpo a break but the hope was that Rio Ngumoha would get more opportunities.
Then during AFCON, Frimpong could be a viable option on the right-side of the attack to cover for the absence of Salah if Szoboszlai was needed elsewhere.
Where might that be? Well, in a double pivot in midfield on the off chance that Ryan Gravenberch, the team’s anchor last season, was deployed at centre-back. The Dutchman was viewed as a possible makeshift defender having played that role a few times last season.
The higher ups at Anfield perhaps thought a mixture of Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Leoni and Gravenberch would be enough for a season, or until Marc Guehi arrived, alongside Virgil van Dijk.
But these ideas were reliant on a lot of ifs and buts. And it became quickly apparent that Liverpool’s approach in the transfer market had flaws.
Isak arrived lacking fitness so Fede Chiesa had to act as the relief for Ekitike in the early stages of the campaign. Slot didn’t trust Ngumoha and the Reds had no viable understudy to Salah meaning the Egyptian and Gakpo had to play every single minute.
Wirtz needed to get up to speed and this made Szoboszlai more integral to everything Liverpool did.
The Reds were finishing games with Chiesa and Szoboszlai as a front two, sandwiched between Gakpo and Salah. Alexis Mac Allister struggled early on with fitness and with Szoboszlai playing as part of the front four, Slot didn’t have midfield options outside of Curtis Jones.
It was a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. That was the compromise those in charge of assembling this squad likely came to at the start of the season.
That back-up right-back? He can play at right-wing when Salah isn’t here. Our third choice centre-back? He can play as a right-back. Our £100million attacking midfielder? Give him some minutes on the left if Gakpo needs a break.
In a nutshell, for Liverpool to have a successful season, they needed a perfect storm of form and fitness.
If Isak started firing immediately. If Wirtz hit the ground running. If Konate and Van Dijk remained fit and their form was consistent. If all of that happened, Liverpool would be in the title race.
Liverpool haven’t had their perfect storm.
Isak struggled with fitness and is now out with a broken leg. Wirtz and Ekitike have needed to have their minutes managed so have been in and out of the team.
Gakpo had a spell on the sidelines which then forced Wirtz into a left-wing role. Gomez and Leoni have suffered injuries meaning it’s Konate or nothing at centre-back.
Szoboszlai has filled in everywhere.
With the Reds 14 points behind leaders Arsenal, the focus has now turned to Hughes. He left his manager a little light and we’re now seeing the consequences. We’re 20 games into the season and the champions have a goal difference of plus four. They’ve won just 50% of their matches this term.
Instead of being in a title race, they’re in a top four battle.
Had squad issues been properly addressed during the summer, this might not be the case now.
However, this shouldn’t absolve Slot of blame right now.
The Dutchman hasn’t managed to get the most out of the players at his disposal at any stage of the season. His use of Isak, Ekitike, Wirtz and Salah has been questionable.
His reluctance to change things up should be scrutinised, as should his decision to persist with ideas that clearly aren’t working.
Prior to his injury, Isak had two goals for the Reds in the Premier League. Wirtz had to wait until December 27th for his first goal in the English top-flight.
Kerkez looked like a square peg in a round hole until recent weeks when Slot finally allowed him some attacking freedom.
These aren’t decisions made by the recruitment team. They’re decisions made by the manager.
The summer business should now be scrutinised properly. But that doesn’t mean Slot is innocent in all of this. The Dutchman is judged on getting the best out of the players given to him.
Right now, he's failing. The longer it goes on, the more likely it is that he loses his job.
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