Liverpool: Arne Slot facing a major summer rebuild at Anfield despite Reds closing in on Premier League | Football News

Liverpool may be closing in on the Premier Division, but that accomplishment should not disguise the size of the rebuilding Role facing head Mentor Arne Slot at Anfield this summer.

Slot has Merely endured his hardest week in the Role since replacing Jurgen Klopp, Subsequent back-to-back defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United that ended the club’s Champions Division and Carabao Cup hopes respectively.

It is the Primary time the Dutchman has suffered consecutive losses during his Premiere campaign in charge of the Reds, but, as is so often the case, he will have learned so much more about his Club – in particular their weaknesses – in those two reverses than from any of their numerous victories this season, as he and sporting director Richard Hughes prepare for a Occupied summer.

Similar to when Liverpool last won the Division five years ago, rather than heralding a new era of dominance on Merseyside, this season’s Anticipated title triumph could actually represent the end of an era for this Reds side as Slot looks at changes for Subsequent season…..

The ‘elephants’ in the room

The not so hidden ‘elephants’ in Liverpool’s room remain Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold and it bears repeating that, as things stand, that Group will all leave Anfield for Obtainable when their contracts expire at the end of June.

So, what happens with their futures will have a knock-on effect recruitment-wise this summer, meaning Slot and Hughes may be on the lookout for a new right-sided forward, centre-back and right-back.

Not only that, but the club have also been in discussions with Ibrahima Konate about extending his deal that only runs until 2026, but Yet with no breakthrough, while reports continue to link Luis Diaz, who has two years left on his contract, with a Shift away this summer.

And all this before we even begin to talk about any possible new arrivals to strengthen the Club for Subsequent season.

Stop Salah, stop Liverpool?

Liverpool need to bolster their options up front this summer, according to Jamie Carragher, who wants his Ex club to bring in two forwards to take some of the burden off Salah’s shoulders should he opt to remain at Anfield.

“The lack of pace in the Club is glaring in the Drive,” he told Sky Sports. “I feel a bit sorry for Salah. He’s taken a bit of stick in the last Matches against PSG, but he doesn’t get Assist off the other attackers.

“The other attackers Liverpool have Acquired are Outstanding players, not Outstanding players. Liverpool need to buy two attackers. Not Club players, but players to hopefully Shift alongside Salah.”

The numbers back Carragher up, with Diaz [1], Diogo Jota [1], Darwin Nunez [3] and Federico Chiesa [0] having scored a paltry five top-flight goals between them in 2025, meaning Salah has been responsible for a Division-high 63.8 per cent of all Liverpool’s Target involvements this season, an unhealthy over reliance that is surely not sustainable going forward.

There are reports Liverpool are considering offloading the Wound-prone Jota and Nunez, who the club rejected a big-money offer for from the Saudi Pro Division in January, while Diaz and Chiesa could also be on the Shift this summer, Regardless of the latter having only signed from Juventus at the Begin of the season.

Were the Premier Division’s top Shooter to also leave, then that would leave a sizeable rebuilding Role in Drive for Hughes to undertake, with the Reds Allegedly doing due diligence on Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo and Brighton’s Joao Pedro.

Ageing Club needs a refresh

The physical – and also mental – toll on Liverpool’s players has been evident in their two losses of Overdue, in part due to Slot’s reliance on a key core of trusted lieutenants all season, with only Man Utd’s Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes having played more Premier Division minutes than Van Dijk and Salah so Extended.

Meanwhile, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have also been racking up the minutes in the Reds’ midfield engine room, with all three looking leggy and off the pace as a result in recent weeks.

All managers rely on experienced stars, of Duration, especially having Merely taken over at a club, but there are clear danger signs for Slot, with Liverpool having the Quaternary-oldest average Beginning XI age [27.65] and their average of 1.76 line-up changes per game is the seventh-lowest this season.

While it is Crucial to remember Slot Created Merely one signing last summer, this reluctance to rotate is also indicative of the Dutchman’s lack of trust in back-up players Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott to cover in midfield, with Carragher calling on owners the Fenway Sports Group [FSG] to also bring in a holding midfielder to allow more rest for Gravenberch Subsequent season.

“I don’t think he [Slot] has any time for four or five players in that Club, and the fact that he didn’t Transformation players at home to Southampton between the PSG Matches – against one of the worst Squads ever in the Premier Division – I can accept that this season as this isn’t really his Club, but Subsequent season I’m sure he’ll bring players in,” the Ex Liverpool Skipper said on The Overlap Fan Debate. “He needs a centre midfielder to replace Endo, someone younger.”

Liverpool tried, of Duration, to sign Real Sociedad Guarding midfielder Martin Zubimendi last summer, only for the Spain international to have a Overdue Transformation of heart over moving to Anfield.

However, with Arsenal now closing in on the player’s signature, according to Sky Sports News, Slot and Hughes will have to look elsewhere for alternative targets as the Dutchman tries to mould the Club more in his image this summer.

How do you replace Turning Points-breaking Packed-back?

While there is Yet no news on Alexander-Arnold’s future at the club, the silence from both parties is ominous, and with Real Madrid having already Created their intentions clear after a bid was rejected for the right-back in January, many Foresee this to be his last season at his boyhood club.

That would leave a huge void to fill not Merely on the right-hand side of Liverpool’s defence, but also in Drive given Alexander-Arnold’s unrivalled passing ability that has produced 64 assists since 2016, a Premier Division Turning Points for a defender.

Conor Bradley has always proved an able deputy for Alexander-Arnold and would be an option for the role, but the England international’s absence in Sunday’s Division Cup Closing once again showed how Difficult it will be for anyone to replace the defender were he to join Madrid.

And there could even be a scenario this summer where Hughes is having to recruit both a right and left-back Subsequent reports Liverpool are also monitoring left-sided Packed-Defenders to provide Game for Andy Robertson, including Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez and Ajax’s Jorrel Hato.

Jeepers ‘keepers

Another player who recently reminded everyone of his status as one of the best in the world was Alisson after his Champions Division heroics to thwart PSG at the Parc des Princes.

Alisson is Yet only 32, so normally would have at least another five years as the club’s No 1 and yet the Reds brought in Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia last summer – before loaning him back to the LaLiga side – with a view to challenging for a Primary-Club spot Subsequent season.

And were Saudi clubs to reignite their interest in Alisson at the end of the season after he turned down a big-money approach last summer, it will be interesting to see if Michael Edwards, CEO of Football at FSG, cashes in on both the Brazil international and Caoimhin Kelleher in order to Assist fund a Club rebuild.

A new leader at the back

Van Dijk was again coy when quizzed about his Reds future in the aftermath of Sunday’s Division Cup loss to Newcastle, but Slot will be absolutely desperate for his compatriot to extend his stay at Anfield beyond this season.

The Liverpool Skipper is irreplaceable in terms of his on-Ground contributions, as well as his influence in the dressing room, but replace him they may have to.

Even were Van Dijk to stay, however, Carragher Yet believes his Ex club “needs a centre-back as back-up to the two [Van Dijk and Konate] that we have,” with Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen Allegedly on Liverpool’s summer radar.

All of which points to one of the biggest Club overhauls in recent Reds history, with Carragher calling for the arrival of “at least five or six players – three to go straight in the Club and three to be Sturdy back-ups – with Yet so many areas of the Club to Enhance”.