Liverpool sit sixth in February, the champions suddenly outside the Champions League places, and their only transfer window business is the £60m capture of Jeremy Jacquet — a centre-back who will not join until the summer. That single move makes the club’s priorities clear: a long-term rebuild rather than immediate repairs, leaving head coach Arne Slot to find short-term answers amid a mounting injury crisis.
The defensive picture is acute. At right-back Conor Bradley is out for the season and Jeremie Frimpong has been hampered by fitness problems, forcing Dominik Szoboszlai — Liverpool’s player of the season — to cover out of position. Late interest in Lutsharel Geertruida went nowhere, and the squad has had to improvise.
Central defence is stretched too. Giovanni Leoni is a long-term absentee, and makeshift solutions have been used, with the likes of Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo pressed into unfamiliar roles. Ibrahima Konaté cut short compassionate leave to return for a recent fixture, underlining the shortage. Missing out on Marc Guehi — a deal that collapsed on Deadline Day last summer and reappeared this window only for Guehi to sign for Manchester City — remains a fresh source of frustration for supporters.
Manchester City’s additions of Guehi and Antoine Semenyo, both proven in the Premier League, emphasise the contrast between immediate reinforcement and Liverpool’s longer-term recruitment. Last season’s title, envisaged as the start of a new era under Slot, now feels more like the end of one: Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Alisson have all committed to new contracts but are 33, prompting a planned transitional rebuild.
That rebuild has followed a clear template. The summer arrivals combined upside with some experience: Alexander Isak has divided opinion, while Hugo Ekitike (23) and Florian Wirtz (22) are clearly seen as long-term prospects, and Milos Kerkez was recruited as Andy Robertson’s successor. The strategy echoes the Michael Edwards era — targeting players who are in, or approaching, their peak after already having meaningful careers elsewhere.
Ian Graham, Liverpool’s former director of research, underlined that timing matters: the club’s most successful signings tended to be 23–25, players who had already enjoyed part of a career before arriving. The point is that title-winning squads usually contain a nucleus of peak-age players; too many teenagers or veterans can erode the consistency needed at the top level.
Jacquet fits that long-term brief — a highly rated defender thriving in Ligue 1 — but he arrives with only 31 senior top-flight starts, which carries risk. Any signing’s trajectory can be affected by form, fitness or injury, as Leoni’s absence illustrates. Integrating new starters is difficult; Graham notes that even in Liverpool’s productive transfer window between 2016 and 2019 the club added only around three regular starters a year, fewer than many rivals, and not every signing became established.
Those constraints help explain why Liverpool’s season has been more inconsistent than many expected. Overhauls take time. The growing understanding between Ekitike and Wirtz offers encouragement, but it is not an instant solution. Slot has attracted critics amid poor results, a predictable response given the immediate shortfalls, but the scale of the transition he has inherited would have tested many managers, including Jurgen Klopp.
Media voices reflected the impatience. Paul Merson said he was surprised Jacquet would remain in France until the summer, arguing Liverpool needed defensive help now. Slot, for his part, has stressed prudence: the club must “strengthen the squad, not weaken it,” he said before Deadline Day, arguing for measured recruitment rather than risky short-term fixes.
The coming months are pivotal. Slot’s position will partly be judged on how the side navigates this run: they can still make a European push or even win the Champions League, but they also risk failing to qualify for it next season. Liverpool have opted for a patient, long-term route with Jacquet and other young signings; whether that patience pays off will be decided both on the pitch in the short term and in future transfer windows.