Richard Hughes plans SERIOUS change to Arne Slot's squad

Liverpool’s strength in depth has been on show recently amid a bit of an injury crisis at the club.

Caoimhin Kelleher has demonstrated he is definitely a starting-level goalkeeper, Conor Bradley embarrassed Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday night, Curtis Jones has forced his way into the starting XI and Darwin Nunez is putting in more work than Pep Guardiola’s fingernails at the moment.

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But a club that gets complacent with its squad is a club that causes its own problems without even noticing - something you could argue is Manchester City’s problem at the moment.

For all the questions posed at him recently, it seems that sporting director Richard Hughes has definitely been busy in identifying places for Liverpool’s squad to remain strong.

And a new report on The Athletic is reporting that Liverpool are looking in three key areas outside of potential necessary replacements for the expiring contracts of Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk.

Those being left-back, a new midfielder, and centre-back cover.

Centre-Back

The need to future proof centre-back is well-established, with the report referencing the club’s interest in eventual Manchester United signing Leny Yoro, as well as the expectation that Joe Gomez will depart the club.

Ibrahima Konate’s injury only shines a spotlight on the problem.

We have covered many reports on this, including the most recent being interest in Club Brugge’s 20-year old sensation Joel Ordonez.

Left-Back

Left-back is a bit of a sore spot, with fans understandably not wanting to see the back of club legend Andy Robertson. The Scottish captain’s performances have indicated a drop off in form, however, and future proofing is necessary.

The report confirms that Kostas Tsimikas isn’t seen as the long-term solution by the club. Anfield Watch ran an exclusive earlier in the month that the club asked for permission to talk to Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez, and links for a move to Fulham’s Antonee Robinson have emerged also.

Midfield

Midfield is the final piece of the puzzle, with the report stating that the club saw Martin Zubimendi could offer Arne Slot’s system a skill set that no one else can, hence their ‘Zubi or bust’ strategy.

It perhaps then makes sense that the club are rumoured to be going back in for Zubimendi as early as January despite the emergence of Ryan Gravenberch as the world’s best defensive midfielder.

It’s likely that Arne Slot has already developed a way for the two of them to play in the same side together should the transfer go through, and cover at the position is of extreme importance, as Man City have again made startlingly clear.

Whether any of these deals get done is a different story. But one thing is clear - Liverpool know the chance they have this season and they do not intend to waste it.

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