Liverpool is 13 points clear in the Premier League title race, gearing up for a Champions League glamor tie with PSG, and the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United. And yet, Arne Slot's roster could see some big changes in the summer.
As it stands, at least, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold will all be moving on because their contracts will expire. The hope, of course, is that they each pen new deals — until that happens, though, there will be an element of uncertainty.
Even beyond that, however — and even assuming that the trio will stay — Liverpool will still need to be active in the summer transfer market. There are some obvious areas in which it can further improve even with goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili set to arrive from Valencia.
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"We are looking at every single position and we are looking at the team," Slot said last week. "I think we've said this many times, last summer, we didn’t do a lot because we — [sporting director] Richard [Hughes], me, and all the other people involved — just wanted to know how these players were working with me.
"Now we have a very good idea about that. I'm not going to tell you which positions we prefer, but it is clear that we’ve assessed the squad, we’ve assessed what we think where we can improve, and that’s where we try to go for in the summer."
So which positions stand out as ones that Liverpool needs to improve? Slot won't tell us, but there are some that seem fairly obvious in terms of being upgradeable.
Let's start with left-back. Andy Robertson will only have a year left on his contract at the end of this season and he hasn't been as effective for the last 18 months or so. While it would need either the Scotland captain or Kostas Tsimikas to move on in the offseason to free up space, signing a player to come in and play that role would seem logical.
Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez is one of a number of options worth considering, but at 21, he could come in and inject some fresh blood into the role. He has Premier League experience, but he is young enough that if he was sharing minutes with Robertson for a year or two, he would accept that rather than insist on being the undisputed number one.
Sticking with Bournemouth, center-back Dean Huijsen has a $63m (£50m/€60m) release clause. Joe Gomez could have moved on last summer and if Liverpool does need a defender this year, the Spanish U21 international should be high up on the shortlist.
Huijsen impressed against Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium a few weeks ago and is attracting interest from Newcastle and others too. But given that he appears likely to move on from Bournemouth only a year after signing from Juventus, if Liverpool is going to get him, it might have to be sooner rather than later.
Aside from its defense, Liverpool should be looking at two other positions too: holding midfield, as an alternative to Ryan Gravenberch who is stylistically similar to the Dutchman rather than combative like Wataru Endo, and number nine, where Darwin Nunez is drawing interest from Saudi Arabia and Diogo Jota has continued to suffer from injuries.
Just back from injury himself, Crystal Palace star Adam Wharton is one option who should be considered in midfield. He was excellent against Liverpool at Selhurst Park in October and is the same kind of deep-lying playmaker that Gravenberch has become.
Wharton wouldn't be cheap but he would be a long-term solution. He might even unlock more from Gravenberch given that the first-choice option in the number six position would be afforded more of a rest.
Finally, signing a new striker feels more important than anything else. "I think in the summer, Liverpool will be in the market for a center-forward," Jamie Carragher said on the " target="_blank" class="link"> It's Called Soccer podcast.
The dream option? After scoring 21 times this season including a cracker against the Reds at St James' Park, Alexander Isak's credentials speak for themselves, though Newcastle will have plenty to say about that.
Whether it is those dream options or entirely different choices, those four positions look the most obvious to target.
