Liverpool's Summer Transfer Strategy: Key Targets and Needs

Andoni Iraola knows the question hanging over Liverpool’s summer: not if they will buy, but how much they can fix before the window slams shut.

The new head coach has already nailed his colours to the mast. Speaking to Sky Sports, he was blunt about the state of his squad and the club’s plans for the final stretch of the market.

“We will definitely sign some players. Some deals you have to wait until the end. But the end is the important picture, the one we will have on September 1. Because it is true that we are still quite thin.”

Thin. For a club chasing titles on multiple fronts, that word stings.

Wide areas top the list

The most obvious gaps are out wide. Left wing and right wing sit at the top of Liverpool’s shopping list, and the club are already deep in talks with PSG for Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye.

Both would bring exactly what Iraola’s football demands: pace, direct running, and the ability to stretch games. Liverpool want them. PSG know it. The negotiation dance has started.

In the background sits the curious case of Yankuba Minteh. Reports say Liverpool have seen a £50m bid knocked back. On the surface, that sounds like a serious push for the winger. But there’s a strong sense that this is more chess move than genuine priority – a way of nudging PSG on their asking price for Mbaye, rather than a full-blooded attempt to land Minteh at all costs.

Even if Barcola and Mbaye both arrive, the work would not be done. Two wide players would plug glaring gaps, but they would not, on their own, transform Liverpool’s depth into something befitting a title challenge across a long, brutal season.

Midfield: one out, at least one in

Then comes midfield, where the picture is shifting fast.

Curtis Jones is heading to Inter Milan. His departure strips away not just a body, but a homegrown, tactically flexible option who knows the club and the league. And the feeling inside and outside Anfield is the same: even before Jones goes, Iraola needs more help in the middle of the pitch.

The calendar is unforgiving. Domestic cups, Europe, the Premier League grind. One more midfielder already felt like a necessity. If Jones completes his move, it becomes non-negotiable.

The dream target? Adam Wharton.

The Crystal Palace midfielder has turned heads with his composure and intelligence, and he would slot perfectly into Iraola’s high-energy, technically sharp system. But there is a brick wall: the price. Palace’s £100m valuation plants that deal firmly in the “unlikely” column. Liverpool admire him. They may even be desperate to land him. The numbers just don’t add up right now.

So the need remains. Another midfielder must come through the door if Liverpool are to avoid running their core players into the ground by spring.

Right-back: depth or specialist?

Right-back keeps bubbling away in fan debates. On paper, Iraola has an option: Ronald Araujo can operate there and hold his own. He’s athletic, defensively strong, and tactically disciplined enough to shuffle across.

But using Araujo wide is a compromise, not a plan.

That’s why a specialist right-back is still on many wishlists. Someone who lives in that channel, who can overlap relentlessly, defend one-on-one, and cope with the physical and tactical demands of Iraola’s approach.

One name that has piqued interest is Hector Fort. The 20-year-old has been linked with a loan move, and the early signs from scouting work are encouraging. He looks modern, aggressive, and comfortable on the ball – the sort of profile that could grow quickly under a coach like Iraola.

A loan would also fit neatly into Liverpool’s current balancing act: strengthening without blowing up their long-term wage and fee structure.

Four signings that change everything

Strip the window down to its essentials and a clear blueprint emerges.

• Two wingers: Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye.
• One midfielder: the profile of Adam Wharton, even if not the man himself at £100m.
• One right-back: a specialist, with Hector Fort a live and intriguing option.

Those four deals would not just pad out the squad. They would reshape it. They would give Iraola the variety and depth to rotate without fear, to press with intensity week after week, and to survive injuries without ripping up his game plan.

Liverpool have already made their stance clear: more signings are coming. The question now is not whether they act, but how bold they are willing to be before September 1 decides the true ceiling of their 2026/27 season.