Liverpool's dream 25-man squad after £50m defensive statement made before transfer deadline day

A big deadline approaches for Liverpool and Arne Slot - the confirming of the club's 25-man Premier League squad for the new campaign. Of course, what that list looks like will be largely determined by any transfer activity in the final six days of the window.

The Reds remain the only side in Europe's major leagues yet to make a first team purchase this summer. This status could soon change with the arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili hotly anticipated, though the goalkeeper would not officially join his new club until a later date after a likely loan return to Valencia.

Recently outgoings have been the main transfer topic at Anfield with deals for Fabio Carvalho, Sepp van den Berg, Bobby Clark and Harvey Blair - added to shrewd sell-on clauses from historical departures - taking the club's overall income this summer in excess of £66m.

With that sum added to the kitty, it is now on the club's hierarchy to decide if the opportunities currently available on the market align with the present strains on the squad - one area in particular showing signs at this early stage of the season - and ultimately the buying ethos of the club.

Taking this information forward, here is how Slot's 25-man selection could look once the August 30 transfer deadline has passed and squads must be submitted to the league.

Squad regulations

First of all, here are the key rules set out by the Premier League all 20 member clubs must comply with when submitting their final squads.

The list is 25 players in length. At least eight of these must qualify as 'homegrown' players to meet this specific quota. This refers to a player, irrespective of nationality or age, who has been registered to a Football Association or Football Association of Wales affiliated club for three seasons prior to their 21st birthday.

The remaining 17 members of the squad are allowed to be 'non-homegrown', so long as they have the necessary work permits and permissions granted to play in the United Kingdom.

Under-21 players - for the 2024/25 campaign this means anyone born after January 1 2003 - do not have be registered as part of the final 25-man list, though it is allowed.

The £50m transfer question

So now Liverpool have a key call to make in the coming days - go into the season without a signing or finally dip into the market. This is without considering anything that happens with Mamardashvili, only thinking of players that could enter Slot's squad immediately.

Whilst other than the Georgia international only a move for a midfielder has materialised. That was the failed attempt to sign Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad, but recent events have pointed towards a central defensive signing being of equal priority.

On Friday the head coach explained Jarell Quansah has picked up a minor injury that will impact his involvement against Brentford this weekend. This would leave Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez - who last week was 'exploring his options' to leave Liverpool - as the only three options remaining.

Joel Matip's exit earlier this year also comes to mind, so a signing in this department is slowly turning into a must rather than a desire.

Piero Hincapie of Bayer Leverkusen has recently been linked, with it said the Reds have got the 'green light' to wrap up his £50m signing. The 22-year-old, a left-sided option with the versatility to play at left back too when required, can be a strong addition to the squad to start then has the potential to become a stalwart for Slot in the decade to come.

Any more sales?

Slot has now hinted towards no more exits occurring before the end of the coming week, but there is actually perhaps room for one more.

As mentioned Gomez has been the centre of a summer-long saga. This spiked owing to his omission against Ipswich Town last weekend, but now an apparent solid week of training seems to have put him back in contention and rightly so as one of last season's top performers.

Although Hincapie's arrival would take up a defensive place, and this would more than likely mean 27-year-old Nat Phillips becomes surplus to requirements. He has been a hero in the past and has helped fill the homegrown quota when desperately needed, but now could finally be the ideal time to permanently part ways.

With that the only permanent outgoing transfer, it falls to any loan decisions for younger Reds. The most high profile of these would be Stefan Bajcetic and Ben Doak.

For the former, why take the risk if a starting defensive midfielder is not going to arrive? At 19 he can take up a place in the squad, play in cup matches and slowly earn experience at the highest level until able to take up the mantle in years to come.

Regarding the latter a similar question must be asked - can Liverpool afford to take Mohamed Salah into the campaign as the only natural right-sided attacking option. The sensible answer would be no, as even with the Egyptian's strong injury record, he cannot be expected to play every single minute of the season.

Dream Liverpool Premier League squad 2024/25

So, without further ado, here is Slot's dream 25-man squad for the Premier League campaign.

GK: Alisson Becker, Caoimhin Kelleher, Vitezslav Jaros

DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah, Piero Hincapie, Andrew Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas

MID: Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Wataru Endo, Stefan Bajcetic, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai, Harvey Elliott

FOR: Mohamed Salah, Ben Doak, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota

The eight qualifying homegrown players on this list would be Kelleher, Jaros, Alexander-Arnold, Bradley, Gomez, Bajcetic, Jones and Elliott. The head coach would then have the ability to call upon his youth ranks, 17-year-old Trey Nyoni being a fine example, without them officially being included in the ultimate list.

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