Liverpool are, effectively, in a rebuilding stage. “It was one of the main reasons why I signed a new contract,” Jurgen Klopp admitted this month.
“I knew it’s necessary,” added the German, who is now into his seventh full season in charge at Anfield and signed his new deal last April when the club were on the quest for a quadruple. The rebuild has already begun, too: £180 million has been committed to the attack by bringing in Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo. However, there’s a warning too from Klopp that “it will not go [happen] overnight.”
Of course, we’ve seen as much this season, the Reds out of both domestic cups and, after 20 Premier League games, were on course for their third-worst points total in Premier League history.
Klopp will be hoping, and fans will be expecting, that that changes in the second half of the campaign, especially as key players such as Diaz, Diogo Jota and Virgil van Dijk return from injury. Saturday’s trip to Newcastle is key; if Liverpool win that they’d be six points behind the Toon with a game in hand.
Klopp, though, knows that the rebuild is about far more than this season’s league finish. “I know the majority of the outside world is just interested in the short term, but we have to be long-term focused as well, and that’s what we are,” he insisted.
So just who will and who won’t be part of the rebuild in the short and long term? Let’s take a look.
Liverpool and the squad rebuild: in goal
Alisson Becker isn’t going anywhere any time soon, certainly not unless the player himself unexpectedly agitates to leave the club. He’s also under contract until 2027 when he’ll be 34.
Behind Alisson is where it gets more interesting. Caoimhin Kelleher is too good not to be playing regular football and now aged 24 he’s itching for first-team football that he isn’t getting on Merseyside. A departure seems likely this summer for those reasons, but Liverpool would be wise to include some sort of buy-back clause for the young Irishman.
Backup ‘keeper Adrian is out of contract this summer and will leave, a replacement who is also homegrown-qualifying would make a lot of sense. Ron-Robert Zieler, who qualifies after spending his formative years at Manchester United, would be worth keeping an eye on.
Allow Kelleher to leave, promote Marcelo Pitaluga and sign an experienced backup who is also ideally homegrown.
The centre-backs
This is where it gets more interesting. Virgil van Dijk is clearly a key player, however, he turns 32 this summer and will only have two years left on his contract then too. Do the club give him a big new deal to keep him past age 34?
Behind Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate is undoubtedly one for the next evolution of Klopp’s squad, but Joel Matip, whose form has dipped significantly this season, is a player who could well depart this summer – when he’ll have a year left on his deal and be just shy of his 32nd birthday.
It’s time for Liverpool and Klopp to be a little more ruthless with their ageing players: yes players who have brought back the good times, but are now long past their prime and need to be moved on before contracts expire and they leave for free. Matip is the first such test of that. Get money for him now while you can.
Joe Gomez has struggled at times this season, but at age 25 and being a homegrown player who can play both sides at centre-back plus at right-back, it wouldn’t make much sense to move him on.
In the short term, the first choice duo is Van Dijk and Konate, but the medium and long term, Konate needs a new partner. Can a suitably high-quality addition be brought in this summer and replace Matip in the squad?
The full-backs
Liverpool have two of the best full backs in Europe in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, so they aren’t going anywhere.
Decent backups for each are required though if they aren’t to suffer from being overused and becoming burned out (again). Does Klopp trust Kostas Tsimikas fully? Arguably not from the amount of times he plays him. And who knows about Calvin Ramsay after his first season at the club has been hugely plagued by injury issues?
Centre midfield
And here’s where it really gets interesting: the much-talked-about Liverpool midfield. It’s been a debate throughout Klopp’s tenure at Anfield really, from detractors who felt that it was often too workman-like and lacking in creativity, to now, where it is filled with past-prime players who are no longer able to physically do the job required in a Klopp midfield.
The irony, then, that Klopp’s defence of his eight midfield options last summer didn’t even mention the player who has arrived into the side this winter and looks like being a key player in the Reds’ future: Stefan Bajcetic. The teenager was outstanding in the Merseyside derby playing in a role he’d never played before, more advanced in midfield, replacing the now-injured Thiago. What Bajcetic did, though, was play the role that Gini Wijnaldum did when the Dutchman was at his best.
James Milner’s contract expires this summer, and while Klopp has hinted at wanting to offer him a role in his coaching staff, the boss has also explained that ‘Millie has other ideas’ – e.g., wanting to continue to play into his 38th year.
The two will be leaving are Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Jordan Henderson turns 33 this year but, with a contract up to his 35th birthday, he won’t leave this summer. He does need to be phased out, though.
Then there’s Fabinho: and what to do about Fabinho is a tricky one. A 29-year-old who has played more minutes than the average 35-year-old, the Brazilian has looked that way at times this season too. The drop-off has been huge, arguably the biggest individually in the squad. He has a contract to 2026, but would it be wise to cash in if an offer came in? All that would depend on who else could be acquired. The reality is that it’s more likely Fabinho remains as part of the short term at least.
Harvey Elliott is clearly one for the future, but is his future in centre-midfield? The jury is out on that one. Curtis Jones has had an injury-plagued campaign, now aged 22 he should be pushing on more, but with homegrown status and versatility, he’s one to keep around at least for the short-medium term. There’s also Tyler Morton, out on loan at Blackburn, who is likely to come into the first-team squad next season.
Much will depend on who comes in, with at least two midfielders – ideally a certain Jude Bellingham, plus Wolves’ Matheus Nunes – needed.
If Klopp’s midfield options next season look like Fabinho, Bellingham, Nunes, Bajcetic, Morton, plus Thiago and Henderson as the experienced heads for the short term, that’s not bad.
Attack
Given the expenditure up front, the attacking questions are fewer. Clearly, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo are the future, plus Mohamed Salah at least for the medium term. That’s five high-quality attacking options.
So should Roberto Firmino really be offered a new contract beyond his one that expires this summer? Are six forwards, plus the likes of Elliott, Jones, Fabio Carvalho and teenager Ben Doak required?
Again, it might need a ruthless decision from Klopp and Liverpool.
So what's needed?
In the short term, this summer, at least two midfielders are needed. Then a long-term centre-back partner for Konate, who comes in and replaces Matip either this or next summer. Potentially a full-back back-up for either left or right, who can come in and adequately replace Trent or Robertson to avoid them fatiguing as they have recently.
What’s also needed is for the likes of Jones, Elliott, Bajcetic and Carvalho to start to fulfil their potential. Medium-term, the roles of Thiago and Henderson need to change to being more squad players, while the same will eventually be required with Salah, or least the Egyptian playing fewer matches than now when he plays almost every available fixture.
Perhaps, though, the biggest thing that’s needed is the arrival of Bellingham – a player who will undoubtedly transform Liverpool on the pitch and give the club a massive boost off the pitch, providing a new Steven Gerrard-like presence as the Reds’ No.8.
Jurgen Klopp has never rebuilt his own squad before: the challenge is there, he knows it and is already working on it both short and long term.
