We’re fast approaching August and Liverpool Football Club have still yet to make a first official signing.
Well, highly-rated Chelsea youth player Rio Ngumoha has agreed a move to Merseyside, but his switch can’t be officially announced until after he’s gone through the Premier League’s investigation process. If all goes well there, the move could be confirmed in less than four weeks, according to CaughtOffside.
Now speaking about the Reds’ efforts in the market so far, Arne Slot reassured reporters that Richard Hughes and Co. are working hard behind the scenes to get the ball rolling.
Further to this, the former Feyenoord boss admitted it would be surprising if Liverpool didn’t bring anyone in.
“The first one is one of the reasons, me wanting to assess the squad, which is difficult because most of them are still not here. And the second one also has to do with the difficulty [that] if you inherited a team that is really good then it’s not so easy to find players that are of the same standards or even higher, especially because those ones need to be available as well,” the 45-year-old was quoted as saying by the club’s official website.
“But like I said, Richard more than me is really working hard on that as well and he keeps me updated every time. If there is any news on that, we will come to you.
“But like I said, we already have a very good team I’m already really happy with. But it would be a surprise for all of us I think if we don’t bring any player in, so that will probably happen in the end. But for now, we are just waiting for the players to come back and waiting for the right ones to sign.”
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What could Liverpool sign first this summer?
Assuming that all goes to plan with Ngumoha, we’ll focus our attention on the remaining array of linked targets this summer.
Curtis Jones’ comments may have provided some insight into what Slot’s priorities will be in this window.
The Scouser spoke very positively of his new coach’s focus on the middle of the park, telling reporters gathered (via liverpoolfc.com): “Of course, the principles are the same but I feel like now the centre midfield is going to be kind of more the heart of the team.”
With that in mind, could this suggest that we’ll be very keen on fixing the No.6 dilemma and getting all our ducks in a row when it comes to perhaps the most important department for our new head coach?
It’s not a lot to go off admittedly and there’s every chance that the manager will be satisfied with his current options in the middle of the park.
By contrast, there’s a perhaps more pressing need to bolster our backline following Joel Matip’s departure as a free agent.
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