Luis Diaz's new look as six Liverpool stars hand Arne Slot pre-season boost
They're back! Arne Slot has received several boosts ahead of Liverpool's final pre-season fixture against Sevilla six senior players reporting for training.
After being granted extra time off as a result of representing their respective nations at either Euro 2024 or Copa America, captain Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez are getting their pre-season preparations under way at the AXA Training Centre today.
Upon arrival at the club's base in Kirkby, the Liverpool media team were on hand to capture everything and it's noticeable that Diaz is sporting a new look having been added a bleach blonde streak through the middle of his hair.
All six players will soon be reunited with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota as the Reds squad are flying back to the UK following a successful pre-season tour of the United States.
Three games and three victories (over Real Betis, Arsenal and Manchester United) made it the perfect start to life as Liverpool head coach for Slot and he will have more options at his disposal for the Sevilla fixture next weekend.
Gomez will be the freshest having not featured at all for England during the summer, Alexander-Arnold hasn't featured since the quarter-final win over Switzerland but van Dijk, Gakpo, Diaz and Nunez will have grateful for the rest after featured during the final week of Euro 2024 and Copa America respectively.
No Alisson
One notable absentee from the returning crop of players is Alisson Becker. As Brazil crashed out of the Copa America at the quarter-final stage, there had been suggestions of an early return, but as of yet there has been no sign of the Liverpool number one.
Neverthless, Slot has spoken of his excitement of getting down to work with those who have reported back for training.
"Absolutely. A lot of new players come in – I think seven, eight or nine maybe," the Dutchman said. "Not new but they come back from their holiday. So it's interesting to see how these players fit into the team and implement them as soon as we can.
"We need to work hard in the upcoming two weeks to be ready for Ipswich because there are a lot of positives to take from today but also, like I just said, we gave away too many chances."