Arne Slot still has transfer question to answer after £59m and £75m Liverpool deals left on table
There was a moment during the January transfer window where Liverpool supporters would have bitten your hand off for the Reds to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Their interest became public knowledge, but in the end they decided against acting on it as the Georgian instead joined Paris Saint-Germain in a £59m switch from Napoli.
Liverpool flirted with the possibility of signing a new left-sided forward back in the summer too, agreeing a £75m deal with Newcastle United to sign Anthony Gordon.
However, the Magpies ultimately pulled the plug after raising funds by other means to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
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A new attacker is always exciting at any club. You only need to witness the interest and intrigue that continues to surround Federico Chiesa for proof of that.
But despite the possibility of a new left-winger being dangled in front of Liverpool twice in the past seven months, it is no blow to the Reds that such a transfer has never actually come to fruition.
After all, while some supporters might be frustrated at the lack of January incomings at Anfield this month, given such business would come from a position of strength, their two previous mid-season signings continue to serve them so well.
And between them, you would be forgiven for wondering why Liverpool have even been linked with new left-sided forwards in the first place.
The Reds did not add to their ranks last January, with club bosses well aware that Jurgen Klopp would be stepping down by the time the New Year came around. It was on this day 12 months ago that the German announced that decision to the world.
Consequently, Cody Gakpo remains Liverpool’s last mid-season signing, having joined the Reds from PSV Eindhoven for an initial £35m in 2023. A year prior, Liverpool snapped up Luis Diaz in January 2022 from FC Porto for an initial £37m.
With add-ons, such deals could reach a combined spend of £95m. Consider it money well spent, and a snip in comparison to the fees that Gordon would and Kvaratskhelia did actually entail.
Gakpo is currently in the form of his Liverpool career. His brace against Ipswich Town in Saturday’s 4-1 victory took his overall haul for the season to 14 goals - just two of his final total last year - while he has now matched his Premier League best return of eight goals.
Meanwhile, Diaz has 12 goals for the season so far - one shy of his previous Reds best - with head coach Arne Slot pointing out on more than one occasion that while the 23-goal Mohamed Salah might steal the headlines, his left-wing counterparts rival his contributions in their shared game-time.
Admittedly, Slot has found a way to field both Gakpo and Diaz alongside Salah in recent weeks, as Liverpool continue to flourish following his reinvention of his compatriot.
Predominantly utilised as a centre-forward by Klopp, it is no coincidence that Gakpo is now enjoying his best season for the Reds to date after being restored to his favoured left-wing position. Having being tormented by the forward more than once during his own managerial career in the Eredivisie, such a switch was one of Slot's first acts after taking over at Anfield with it now abundantly clear why he wanted to implement such a change in the first place.
While the Gakpo's strikes against the Tractor Boys were hardly his most eye-catching - a close-range tap-in after Dominik Szoboszlai’s shot was saved and a header - it is somewhat ironic that such a positional switch has resulted in the 25-year-old becoming a more potent attacking threat for Liverpool.
Thirteen of his 14 goals this season have come from the start, with his header against Real Madrid the exception. His second strike against Ipswich, leaping highest at the far post to connect with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross, was netted in similar fashion.
Starting 21 of his 32 appearances so far this season, Gakpo has scored 11 times from his last 16 starts. Also scoring nine times from his last 10 appearances at Anfield, eight of those goals have come from his last seven home starts, while against Ipswich, he became only the 13th Liverpool player to score in six successive Anfield matches.
Consequently, the sight of him wheeling away in celebration on home soil is becoming an increasingly regular occurrence.
An unused substitute against Lille in midweek, Gakpo’s restoration to the starting XI against Ipswich was inevitable. Likewise, when he was replaced after only 68 minutes against the Tractor Boys - denied the possibility to go hunting for a hat-trick in the process - it was with one eye on future fixtures, such is his growing importance to the cause.
Next up for Liverpool is a trip to PSV Eindhoven - Gakpo’s former home. While Slot will inevitably rotate in the Netherlands, thein-form forward will no doubt be relishing a homecoming appearance back where it all began.
Scoring 44 times from 71 appearances during his final 18 months with his boyhood club to attract the Reds’ interest in the first place - predominantly as an inverted left-winger - it has taken Slot’s arrival at Anfield for such a player to be unleashed once and for all in a Liverpool shirt.
Gakpo is ensuring that the Reds hardly need entertain the thought of signing a new starting left-winger, given his current form and capability to get even better. Slot’s decision to reverse Klopp’s initial utilisation of him has certainly paid off.
However, it has opened the door to Liverpool attacking questions elsewhere.. Gakpo’s presence has resulted in Diaz now being stationed through the middle when fielded together. To date, the results have been inconsistent.
There have been high, such as the Colombian’s hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen and brace when Liverpool destroyed Tottenham Hotspur before Christmas. But he has only scored one other goal as a centre-forward for the Reds from nine appearances in total.
Without a goal from his last six matches - and having scored just three times since 15 outings since his Leverkusen hat-trick - Diaz was again quiet against Ipswich Town as he failed to even record a shot on goal or key pass.
Such an experiment has served the Reds well at times but the jury remains out, with it ultimately only extended because of another untimely injury suffered by Diogo Jota.
It was a surprise to see Darwin Nunez benched against Ipswich, having scored a brace off the bench last weekend against Brentford before starting against Lille, but it would not be a surprise if the inconsistent Uruguayan’s Liverpool career came to an end this summer.
Likewise, Jota’s injury woes continue to stack up with it evident he cannot be relied on to be available week after week as the Reds’ first-choice striker.
Diaz can plug the gap in the interim, while the goals of Salah and Gakpo are both ensuring that Liverpool are rarely left short in front of goal. But there will likely be a decision to be made in the summer when it comes to the Reds’ central-attacking options.
Gakpo (and Diaz) have made the need for a new left-winger obsolete. But while not a decision to be made today, Slot’s use of his compatriot has not stopped there from being one position in Liverpool’s attacking ranks that they would still benefit from strengthening.
