Liverpool told who they should replace with SIX new signings needed in busy summer

In partnership with

Evening Standard

·18 March 2025

Liverpool told who they should replace with SIX new signings needed in busy summer

Jamie Carragher reveals where Premier League champions-elect must strengthen as Arne Slot plots to reshape squad

Liverpool need to sign at least five or six players this summer to reinforce their squad, according to Jamie Carragher.

OneFootball Videos

The Reds have enjoyed a stellar first season under Arne Slot and are firmly on track to win only their second title of the Premier League era, boasting a commanding 12-point lead over closest rivals Arsenal at the summit with only nine games left to play.

However, the potential for multiple trophies this term has now been extinguished, with a shock FA Cup fourth round exit at Championship strugglers Plymouth in February followed in the last week by a Champions League last-16 loss on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain and defeat by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.

Carragher said after the game at Wembley that those two results had shone a light on where Liverpool still need to improve, stressing the need to upgrade their attacking options alongside Mohamed Salah, whose own club future remains hugely uncertain with still no agreement reached over his expiring contract.

The Anfield legend believes that a lack of rotation during a critical week for his former club that began with a comeback home win over bottom club Southampton in the Premier League showed that Slot does not consider a handful of players in his current squad as viable starting options, with changes expected in the summer as he puts his own mark on things.

Carragher believes Slot will need to start trusting his whole squad more moving forward if he wants Liverpool to be successful on multiple fronts, having described the performance against Newcastle as one of the worst he had seen from the club in a cup final for many years.

Asked about Liverpool relying on a group of around 15-16 players this season, Carragher said on the latest edition of The Overlap Fan Debate: “You can look at it two ways. You can say that it’s come back to bite them on the backside, with the Champions League and this cup final. But does that put Liverpool in the position that we are as well? Are the other squad players as good?

“I don’t think he has any time for four or five players in that squad, and the fact that he didn’t change players at home to Southampton between the PSG games – against one of the worst teams ever in the Premier League – I can accept that this season as this isn’t really his squad, but next season I’m sure he’ll bring players in. He’ll have to trust his squad more because he’ll need to get further in the Champions League, and he can’t accept a performance like that in a cup final.”

Carragher went on to detail exactly where Liverpool will need to strengthen in the next transfer window, with Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold in an identical situation to Salah in terms of their expiring deals.

He also reiterated the requirement for attacking reinforcements in the form of a winger and centre-forward as well as central defender depth, replacement for Alexander-Arnold and an upgrade on back-up midfielder Wataru Endo.

“I’m excited to see where Arne Slot will take Liverpool because it looks like they’re going to win the league, but there are still so many areas to improve,” Carragher said. “He needs a centre-back as back-up to the two that we have, he’ll need a right-back with Trent Alexander-Arnold likely to leave.

“I think he needs a centre midfielder to replace Endo, someone younger and that he trusts, a centre-forward to play and a left winger. There are at least five or six players he needs to get in – three to go straight in the team and three to be strong back-ups.”