How Liverpool could line up under Arne Slot after new boss decides four key players

Arne Slot will be in the Liverpool dugout next season and while there will be a large degree of continuity in the way that the Reds set up, that is still a big change to get used to. Jürgen Klopp had been in the chair since October 2015.

According to The Telegraph, Slot has already made clear that he wants to get more from Darwin Núñez but that the Uruguayan is seen as a 'crucial' part of his plans. Meanwhile, new contracts for Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all viewed as being priorities — all three would be able to leave as free agents in the summer of 2025 as things stand.

While Salah and Van Dijk are turning 32 and 33 respectively this summer, Liverpool is said to view a mixture of experience and youth as being important moving forwards. While the pair will have to be managed as they get older, there is still plenty left for them to give with few signs of a serious decline in either's performance levels.

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But how could Liverpool look with all that being the case? Alisson Becker will not be going anywhere and he will remain in goal, but there is a decision or two to be made across the defense, which has shipped too many goals this season.

At right-back, one of the first questions that Slot will need to get to the bottom of is where he is best to deploy Alexander-Arnold. The Liverpool number 66 has played a hybrid role recently but there remains a question mark over the effectiveness of him in that position at times, while he could yet become a full-time midfielder.

Moving him into midfield would allow Conor Bradley to play more often but it would also mean losing one of Harvey Elliott or Dominik Szoboszlai in the center. There is no easy solution but given Slot has played with a hybrid player at Feyenoord, perhaps that is the most likely option that he will choose.

Ibrahima Konaté's form and the fact that Joël Matip is set to depart as a free agent means that Liverpool needs to be in the market for a center-back and Jarell Quansah has had such a good season that he is in England contention for the European Championship. Finding the best partner for Van Dijk will be important, even if there is going to be rotation given the volume of matches to come.

In the Liverpool attack, questions are hanging over a few players. Diogo Jota is injury-prone and there is much more to come from Núñez, Luis Díaz and Cody Gakpo. Salah, meanwhile, is effective in terms of his goalscoring and creating but he isn't the explosive winger that he was when he first arrived from AS Roma.

Liverpool could be in the market for another forward this summer but there should also be a conversation around Salah moving into a central position, be that as a number 10 or a number nine. While the Reds will not want to go down the Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United route in terms of the Portuguese offering goals and nothing else, Salah could be effective if asked to stay closer to goal.

Núñez is the biggest conundrum, though. He needs to learn how to stay onside more often and how to stay calm in front of goal. But at the same time, few players have as many big chances as he does and having someone who misses chances is preferable to having a player who doesn't even get in the positions.

The output from the Uruguayan needs to improve but there is reason to think that all five forwards could score more regularly next season. With each of them, there is another level to move into.

A possible Liverpool line-up next season under Arne Slot: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, New Defender, Van Dijk, Robertson; Elliott, New Midfielder, Mac Allister; Salah, Núñez, Jota

Alternative option: Alisson; Bradley, New Defender, Van Dijk, Robertson; Alexander-Arnold, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Núñez, Díaz