Liverpool's Transfer Dilemma: Owen's Concerns and Future Strategies

Michael Owen has watched this Liverpool summer with a frown, not a smile.

A club that has just lost Mohamed Salah – its most reliable source of goals and chaos for the best part of a decade – has dipped into the market once, landing £34.5million winger Victor Munoz from Osasuna. Talks continue with Paris Saint-Germain for Bradley Barcola, with teenage prospect Ibrahim Mbaye also on the radar. For a side that has just waved goodbye to a phenomenon and seen Hugo Ekitike ruled out long term, it feels light.

To Owen, it feels like a risk.

Owen’s Bowen regret

The former Liverpool striker cannot understand why his old club didn’t move more aggressively when West Ham United dropped through the trapdoor. Jarrod Bowen, suddenly a Premier League-level forward sitting in a relegated side, looked tailor‑made for a club in need of goals and guaranteed output.

“I would have gone more Jarrod Bowen as one player to come in,” Owen said, convinced Liverpool “missed a trick” by not striking before the England international signed a new deal at the London Stadium. Premier League-proven, direct, relentless in his running and with a track record of delivering in the final third – Bowen ticked every box Liverpool are now scrambling to fill.

Instead, the club’s energy is locked on Barcola. The France international is an exciting target, but comes with a huge price tag and, potentially, a knock-on effect for the current forward line. As Owen put it, Liverpool appear to be “putting all their time in looking to secure Barcola from PSG,” a move that may require one of the existing attackers to make way.

The concern is simple. Salah’s exit has ripped a vast hole from the right side of Liverpool’s attack. His goals and assists were not decoration; they were the framework. Owen is adamant the club “need to look to add more depth in the forward areas” and expects at least one more attacker to arrive. Anything less would be negligent.

Isak and Wirtz under the microscope

Inside the squad, Liverpool are also banking on internal upgrades. The £100million-plus outlay on Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz demands a return, and Owen knows both arrive at a crossroads season.

Isak endured a brutal campaign last term, four months wiped out by a broken leg and the slow, frustrating climb back to sharpness. Owen has lived that life. “He had a tough time last season,” he said, pointing out that an injury of that scale can leave a player battling just to rediscover his old level, never mind surpass it.

The hope is obvious: if Isak can rediscover the form that lit up his Newcastle spell and flashed at the World Cup, Andoni Iraola suddenly has a centre-forward capable of carrying a title-chasing attack. The talent is not in question. The durability is.

Wirtz, too, steps into a pivotal year. The gifted attacking midfielder struggled to fully adapt in his first campaign, flickering rather than dominating. Now, with a season behind him, Liverpool need more than glimpses. They need him to knit attacks, break lines and justify that enormous fee. Owen’s view is measured but clear – with one year of experience, the expectation is that Wirtz now “find good form” and stay there.

The Scouse heartbeat under threat

Away from the headline names and transfer fees, another storyline gnaws at Owen. Curtis Jones, the one senior Scouse presence in the squad, is into the final year of his contract and attracting serious interest. Inter have yet to meet Liverpool’s valuation, Galatasaray are watching closely, and the clock is ticking.

For most clubs, losing a homegrown midfielder would be a squad-management issue. At Liverpool, it carries emotional weight. Owen understands that better than most. He was the local lad who exploded out of the Academy and into the first team, and he knows how much that connection means on the Kop.

“It’s always nice to have homegrown players playing for Liverpool,” he said, stressing how supporters “feel it” when one of their own makes it. Strip that away, and something intangible goes with it – the sense that the club still reflects its city on the pitch, not just in the stands.

Owen is uneasy at the idea of Iraola starting his tenure without a single senior Scouser in the dressing room. The examples are there across the league. Jack Grealish left Aston Villa and took the heat. Local heroes who move on rarely escape unscathed. The reference to Trent Alexander-Arnold “when he left” may jar with the current reality, but the point stands: when a homegrown star departs, the reaction is visceral.

For Owen, that bond is not romantic nostalgia. It is part of Liverpool’s identity. He felt it himself when he broke through, a city roaring one of its own towards greatness.

Now, as a new era under Iraola takes shape, Liverpool stand at a delicate junction. Replace Salah’s goals. Unlock Isak. Elevate Wirtz. Decide Jones’s future. And do it all while trying to keep the soul of the club intact.

The transfer window will not just define the squad list. It will reveal what kind of Liverpool this next chapter is really built on.