Club have several gaps in the squad; new head coach wants Alexis Mac Allister and Alisson to stay
Andoni Iraola has said it is “obvious” that Liverpool need to strengthen several areas of his squad before the transfer window closes. The head coach also insisted he has no intention of letting Alexis Mac Allister or Alisson leave the club this summer.
Iraola, who led the Liverpool squad to a pre-season tour in the US this week, has been vocal about how his squad needs strengthening. Liverpool had several departures last season and have also struggled with fitness, with a number of players unavailable through injury.
“I think it is difficult to say a number – when the market is open, you have to be always open to new options to improve the squad,” Iraola said.
“There are obvious situations where we need to sign players. Winger for example, we definitely need to sign a winger, but there are other situations where we will have to analyse what the market gives you, what is the cost, how we also see the players we have.
“We have some tricky positions where we have injured players that we trust, but it is still not the ideal situation, so it will depend on a lot of things.”
Liverpool have already signed defender Jeremy Jacquet and winger Victor Munoz, but the squad remains short with several players missing. Conor Bradley is recovering from the serious knee injury he suffered in January, while Hugo Ekitike is also expected to be unavailable for several months.
“Stefan [Bajcetic] and Wataru [Endo] are close to training with the group,” Iraola said. “With the others [injured players], we’ll have to wait more. The closest one to returning after that is [Giovanni] Leoni. Conor and Hugo are way off. We are talking about months.”
Iraola also sought to end speculation surrounding Mac Allister after reports linked the Argentina midfielder with Real Madrid following the World Cup. Although the 27-year-old is expected to return later than some teammates after helping Argentina reach the final, the Liverpool manager made clear he wants him to remain at Anfield.
“I think Alexis has been one of the best players at the club for the last few years, and he has had a very good World Cup, so it is normal that other clubs want our best players,” said Iraola. “It always happens in other markets. But I want to keep my good players. I’m looking forward more to signing new players rather than losing the ones we have here.”
Iraola delivered a similar message over Alisson, whose future has also been the subject of transfer speculation. The Brazil goalkeeper has yet to link up with the squad after the World Cup, but the Liverpool head coach expects him to remain an important figure on and off the pitch.
“I am very happy with the situation we have right now in the goalkeeping area,” he said. “We have Alisson, we have Giorgi [Mamardashvili]. Now we are going to send Armin [Pecsi] on loan but we have the guarantee of the three keepers here. Freddie [Woodman] played some games last season, I think it is a guarantee for us.
“Alisson is also someone in a changing room that has lots of references, in terms of experience. He is someone that definitely will help us in this process of adaptation of the new signings and the young players. We need the references like Virgil [van Dijk], Alisson, Joe Gomez; players that have been here for a long time, and I am sure we will have this help.”
