Liverpool striving to reach ‘really high bar’ in pursuit of defensive midfielder

Richard Hughes remains on track with a prediction of how his first transfer window will unfold as Liverpool’s sporting director. “A quiet July, then a crescendo in August probably awaits us all,” the former Bournemouth technical director said just over a month ago. The crescendo is yet to begin but there are understandable reasons why Liverpool have not made a sound in the transfer market so far.

Liverpool are the only Premier League club not to have made a signing this summer, but that is soon expected to change now that Arne Slot has had an in-depth look at the squad during a tour of the US.

The tour was a success, Liverpool beating Real Betis 1-0, Arsenal 2-1 and Manchester United 3-0, with the implementation of the new head coach’s style more important than positive results. But it did underline the need for a defensive midfielder, a long-term priority for Liverpool, and moves are under way to strengthen in that role. That was the one aspect of the midfield rebuild that stalled last summer, with Jürgen Klopp turning to a then 30-year-old Wataru Endo late in the window after losing out on Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia to Chelsea.

Endo started the opening game of the US tour alongside Curtis Jones but struggled with Slot’s more possession-based approach. Slot started Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch alongside Jones in the remaining two matches, and introduced the impressive teenager Trey Nyoni before Endo when making the usual wholesale pre-season changes. Liverpool have rejected a bid of £11.8m from Marseille for the Japan international, who cost £16m 12 months ago, but that stance reflects the options at Slot’s disposal and could change in the event of landing another midfielder. And receiving a better offer.

Liverpool never anticipated a busy summer, at least in terms of incomings, for several reasons. Aside from a defensive midfielder there is a belief that there are no glaring holes to fill in a team that remain in the early stages of development and capable of improving on the club’s third-place finish last season. The chance to sign Anthony Gordon from Newcastle interested Liverpool when he was offered in June but, with Luis Díaz, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Núñez able to play on the left – though Slot sees Núñez as an out-and-out centre-forward – talks never seriously advanced. A move for Gordon has not been revisited.

Liverpool were also keen on Leny Yoro, because of the teenager’s outstanding talent rather than an urgent need to strengthen in central defence, only for Manchester United to blow them and Real Madrid away with a deal worth €62m plus €8m in add-ons to Lille.

There is the complication of a head coach starting in a summer when the European Championship, Copa América and Olympics have been taking place. That, however, has not prevented the four other Premier League clubs under new management from strengthening. But Slot, as mentioned, wanted to assess the players in the US before having his say on Liverpool’s next moves, in and out.

The head coach is also just one part of a new football structure that Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, put in place after receiving notice of Klopp’s intention to go. Michael Edwards, back as FSG’s chief executive of football, the former sporting director Julian Ward, back as FSG’s technical director, Pedro Marques, hired from Benfica as director of football development, Hughes and his assistant, David Woodfine, shape the post‑Klopp era.

High on their agenda are the Liverpool futures of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander‑Arnold, three of the club’s most important players and biggest assets who have entered the final year of their contracts. Liverpool find themselves in a precarious position, unusually for them. Each player will be expensive to keep – Salah and Van Dijk are already the two highest earners – but hugely damaging to lose.

Slot seemed extremely relaxed on the tour about the lack of new faces and, like Klopp when he first arrived at Liverpool, bemused by what he perceives as a British obsession with transfers. “The bar is really high for new signings because we have so many good players,” he said after the United game. “It is not so easy to first find a player to meet those standards and then is he available? Then we have to find an agreement with them, so it is not always easy to find a player who can help us but Richard is working hard on it.”

Of greater concern to the former Feyenoord coach will be a lack of training time with his full squad. Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Núñez, Díaz, Gakpo and Joe Gomez started their pre-seasons only on Sunday. With the US contingent given a day off after their flight home, Tuesday was the first time Slot was able to work with Liverpool’s entire squad. As a result, and with 12 days to go before the Premier League opener at Ipswich, Liverpool will play two friendlies on Sunday in an attempt to bolster match fitness. The Anfield fixture against Sevilla will be followed by a behind‑closed-doors game against Las Palmas.

Liverpool have received inquiries for several fringe players. Southampton and Leicester want Fábio Carvalho, who impressed in the US. Liverpool have rejected two approaches from Southampton for the 21-year-old, the latest at £15m, and Slot believes Carvalho is well suited to his system as a No 10 or out wide. It will take a significantly improved offer to test Liverpool’s resolve.

Salzburg, managed by the former Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders, are interested, with Norwich and Leeds, in the midfielder Bobby Clark, while the defender Sepp van den Berg and the winger Ben Doak have numerous suitors. Liverpool fans, however, await the first signing of the Slot era and that anticipated crescendo.