It has been a good start to the new season for Liverpool on the pitch. Summer additions Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have settled in well and Ryan Gravenberch is also showing good signs of being a long-term player that the Reds can bank on.
Wataru Endō has, as expected, proven to be a little more limited so far, but he was a crucial part of adding depth to the Liverpool midfield having lost so many bodies. He could be vital in progressing in the Europa League and domestic cups, which could be the best chances that the Reds have of winning silverware this year.
Manchester City remains the favorite to win the Premier League, as has been the default position in recent years. But the Premier League table, albeit after only eight games, shows Liverpool inside the top four and just three points behind Spurs at the summit. Those positions could easily have been reversed were it not for a VAR calamity.
Things are going well, then, but there remains more work to do. Here, Liverpool.com has taken a look at what needs to be sorted out before the end of the season off the pitch at Anfield to make sure that the success of the Reds can get back on track in the long term.
Mohamed Salah contract
One way or another, there is a big decision coming on Mohamed Salah for Liverpool. At the end of the season, he will have a year left to run on the record-breaking contract he signed in 2022 and that should mean one of two things.
Liverpool should either cash in and sell to Saudi Arabia, funding a summer of moves that could attempt to replace him, or it should work out an agreement for Salah to stay. The latter would be an ideal solution, you would imagine, for both parties, with the Egypt legend still at the peak of his powers and interest from the Saudi Pro League unlikely to disappear later down the line.
Center-back signed and world-class holding midfielder found
With Joël Matip out of contract at the end of the season and Liverpool already looking a bit light at the back despite Jarell Quansah emerging and Luke Chambers being highly rated, another center-back is surely a priority.
Liverpool did look for a left-sided defender during the summer but did not find the perfect option on the market. That, as well as identifying a world-class number six (essentially in place of Moisés Caicedo and Aurélien Tchouaméni), is the next priority. Getting a defender in January six months before Matip could leave would be wise.
Jürgen Klopp extension
The Liverpool manager has already signed up to be in charge until 2026, doing so during the season in which he nearly guided the Reds to win the quadruple. But could another new deal be on the cards?
He seems to be enjoying his work at the moment and referred to this year being ‘Year One’ of his new Liverpool project. That would make the 2025/26 season the third one of Liverpool 2.0, and leaving a project after three seasons would seem early…
New sporting director sorted out
Jörg Schmadtke oversaw much of this summer’s transfer dealings, with some of the work undertaken by Julian Ward before he departed. But in the long-term, a more permanent solution is required at the top.
This week, German outlet BILD named former RB Leipzig chief Max Eberl as an option for Liverpool, alongside Bayern Munich. That would appear to make sense on paper, but the Bundesliga champion is also interested. Before long, it would be good to know exactly who is going to be in the role for the next few years and Eberl is at least an interesting candidate.
Anfield Road End completed
Liverpool confirmed this week that the latest expansion of Anfield has been delayed until 2024 with the Anfield Road stand set to only be partially open until then. That will mean fans missing out on matches they thought they were going to be attending.
The sooner the project can be concluded and the capacity can be back at 100 per cent (by then around 61,000 rather than 54,000, as it was previously) the better, clearly.
It will be excellent when it is finished but there appears to be quite a way to go yet until that happens after the initial contractor went bust and work stopped, preventing it from having been opened already.
