Liverpool's Squad Overhaul Under Iraola for 2026/27
Andoni Iraola has not been in the Liverpool job long, but the outlines of a very different future are already visible. Contracts are running down. Young faces are pushing through. New signings are already booked in for 2027.
The Liverpool side that walks out at Anfield in the 2026/27 season could look nothing like the one supporters know now.
Endo on the Outside Looking In
Wataru Endo’s situation tells the story of a squad in transition.
The 33-year-old did not get off the bench in the Carabao Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur. He has yet to play a single minute under Iraola and was left out of Liverpool’s Champions League squad altogether at the start of the month. For a player whose contract expires at the end of the season, the direction of travel is obvious.
Iraola has been respectful but blunt about the challenge in front of the former Japan international.
“Wata lost quite a lot of the pre-season,” the new head coach said last week. “He is still not at his best but he is training very well. The problem is in front of him in his position I have a lot of players. He is competing against a lot of players. We are giving minutes to Trey, Ryan, Alexis and Dom, players that I am selecting right now. But Wata is definitely a player that I like and for sure he will have his moments.”
Those “moments” are getting harder to see.
Against Spurs, Trey Nyoni and James McConnell both started ahead of him, alongside Alexis Mac Allister. Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch came on before Endo was even considered. Just as Lewis Koumas has nudged ahead of Federico Chiesa in the attacking pecking order, Iraola is clearly ready to trust the kids and move on from fringe seniors.
Endo’s game-time had already dwindled under Arne Slot. Nothing about the early weeks of the Iraola era suggests a revival is coming. He turns 34 in February and, as things stand, walks away for nothing in the summer. Reports this week have even suggested Liverpool could cash in during January, their last chance to bank a fee. Either way, the writing is on the wall.
And he is far from alone.
Giants Nearing the Exit Door
Endo is one of a sizeable group whose deals run out next summer.
As it stands, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas are all out of contract at the end of the season. Back-up goalkeeper Harvey Davies is also listed as expiring by Transfermarkt. That does not guarantee that all – or any – of them will leave, but unless new terms are agreed, Liverpool are staring at the prospect of losing a core of their dressing room in one hit.
Ronald Araujo’s season-long loan from Barcelona will also expire. Liverpool do hold a £47m option to buy the Uruguay international, a decision that could define the next era of their defence.
Behind the scenes, though, the club have already started building the next version of this squad.
Deals Already Done for 2027
Liverpool are keeping their powder dry on 2026’s big moves. It is September, the season has barely settled, and the transfer rumour mill will feed itself. The club, though, have quietly nailed down three arrivals for 2027.
Djylian N’Guessan is already on his way. Liverpool agreed a €5m deal with Saint-Etienne for the forward, and he will officially become a Reds player in January. He will not actually arrive at Anfield straight away, though. The 18-year-old is on loan at Stade Brest and is scheduled to finish the season in Ligue 1 before linking up with his new club.
In goal, Lucca Brughmans is lined up as another long-term piece. Liverpool have struck a £30m agreement with KRC Genk for the Belgian goalkeeper. The plan is for him to complete the season in Belgium, but the ECHO understands Liverpool have the option to bring him in early in January if they choose.
There is also a South American playmaker on the way. Samuel Martinez will join from Atletico Nacional in a £750,000 deal once he turns 18 next year.
On top of that, the club have protected one of their most promising recent exports. Liverpool hold a £55m option to re-sign Jarell Quansah from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2027. The ECHO understands the England centre-half has already agreed personal terms on an Anfield contract, should Liverpool decide to trigger that clause.
Loanees Returning, Pathways Opening
The churn will not come only from contracts and permanent deals. A wave of loanees is due back on Merseyside next summer.
Harvey Elliott’s season at Valencia will end with the playmaker still tied to Liverpool until 2028. He remains a central part of the club’s long-term planning.
Ifeanyi Ndukwe, now eligible for a work permit after making his debut for Levante, could be recalled as early as January. If not, he will finish the campaign in La Liga before joining up with Iraola’s squad.
Armin Pecsi and Kieran Morrison are also due back from TSV Hartberg and Sheffield Wednesday respectively. Calvin Ramsay, though, is heading for the exit. His loan at St Mirren runs alongside the final year of his Liverpool contract, and he will leave as a free agent.
Calum Scanlon and Keyrol Figueroa are on season-long loans at Cardiff City and Port Vale. Amara Nallo, Kornel Misciur and Kyle Kelly are out at HJK, Leek Town and Forest Green Rovers until the new year.
Goalkeeper Fabian Mrozek is at FC Cincinnati, where the MLS side hold an option to make his move permanent. That decision could close one door in Liverpool’s goalkeeping department just as Brughmans and others arrive.
Kids No Longer Kids
Another quiet but important shift is coming from the age rules.
From next season, any player born before January 1, 2006 must be registered in Liverpool’s Premier League and European squads if they are to be used. They can no longer hide on the Under-21s list.
Jeremy Jacquet, Lewis Koumas, Armin Pecsi and Michael Laffey will all age out of Under-21 status. The same applies to Scanlon and Kelly. Each of them will either need a formal squad place or a move.
That tightens the squeeze on Iraola’s numbers – and forces some big calls.
Homegrown Core Taking Shape
Within that squeeze, the homegrown picture matters.
Conor Bradley, Harvey Elliott, James McConnell, Lewis Koumas, Vitezslav Jaros, Freddie Woodman and Jeremie Frimpong are all contracted to Liverpool for 2026/27 and count towards the homegrown quota. Bradley, Elliott, McConnell, Koumas and Jaros would be club-trained for European competition. Woodman and Frimpong would be academy-trained.
Luke Chambers, Scanlon, Kaide Gordon, Isaac Mabaya, Owen Beck, Laffey and Kelly would also need to be registered if they remain on the books.
Gomez and Davies, under current terms, leave as free agents. Transfermarkt also lists Chambers and Gordon as out of contract, raising further questions about how deep Liverpool’s homegrown pool will be in a year’s time.
Non-Homegrown Puzzle and Big Names Under Scrutiny
Right now, Liverpool fill all 17 non-homegrown slots for the 2026/27 campaign. That will not last.
Van Dijk, Alisson, Endo and Tsimikas are all out of contract next summer, which would open up four spaces if none of them renew. If Araujo returns to Barcelona rather than signing permanently, that is another berth freed.
Some situations feel more fragile than others.
Chiesa’s future looks bleak. The Italy international is under contract until 2028, but he has never been more than a fringe figure at Anfield. A departure would surprise nobody.
Mac Allister’s position is also under a cloud. The Argentina midfielder has spoken publicly about Liverpool telling him they are not currently in a position to offer him a new deal. That kind of uncertainty rarely fades quietly.
Cody Gakpo nearly left in the summer after interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. That saga is likely to flare up again, especially if his role under Iraola does not expand.
Giorgi Mamardashvili has also been linked with a move away, another reminder that Liverpool’s goalkeeping department could look dramatically different in a short space of time.
Ndukwe and Brughmans would still count as Under-21s for Premier League registration and would not need to occupy senior league slots. In Europe, though, it is different. Neither is eligible for List B, so Liverpool would have to find space for both in their main European squad if they want to use them.
Strip it back to the basics: assume the out-of-contract players depart and Liverpool buy Araujo. Under that scenario, they would have 15 senior non-homegrown players, with Jacquet and Pecsi no longer classed as Under-21s. Ndukwe and Brughmans could then, in theory, take the final two European berths.
That is the clean, controlled version. Reality rarely behaves so neatly.
The 2026/27 Skeleton Squad
Against that backdrop, a rough outline of Liverpool’s 2026/27 squad, based only on current contracts and the Araujo option being taken up, looks like this:
- Goalkeepers: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman (HG), Vitezslav Jaros (HG), Armin Pecsi, Lucca Brughmans (U21)*.
- Defenders: Jeremy Jacquet, Milos Kerkez, Conor Bradley (HG), Leoni (U21), Jeremie Frimpong (HG), Ronald Araujo, Calum Scanlon (HG), Owen Beck (HG), Ifeanyi Ndukwe (U21)*.
- Midfielders: Florian Wirtz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Harvey Elliott (HG), Ryan Gravenberch, Trey Nyoni (U21), James McConnell (HG).
That is not a finished squad. It is a framework.
Between now and next summer, Liverpool must decide who from the old guard stays, which fringe names are moved on, and how aggressively they lean into the youth movement Iraola has already started to champion.
The only certainty is change. How radical will Liverpool dare to be?
