Arne Slot insists Liverpool “won’t hesitate” if another market opportunity presents itself during this “historic” summer transfer window for the Premier League champions.
Before heading home from the club’s pre-season tour of Asia, the Dutch head coach spoke to the travelling UK media at Yokohama’s Nissan Stadium.
He talked about the sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, whether the Colombian attacker needs to be replaced, the rise of teenager Rio Ngumoha, the club-record signing of Florian Wirtz, and the contrast to last summer when Federico Chiesa was the only senior addition to the squad he inherited from Jurgen Klopp.
Here’s the best of the exchange — and our analysis of what he said…
Slot on Diaz’s departure
“Luis is a player we won the league with and there’s a reason we won it with him because he’s a very good player. It’s always disappointing to see someone like that leave, to a certain extent.
“But on the other hand, we’ve sold him for a lot of money and, as you probably know even better than I do, this football club brings in unbelievable signings over the years, but part of the strategy is also that once in a while we have to sell someone.
(Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“I think we did great business by bringing in Lucho for a number of years and then selling him for a very good profit. Lucho was a player who was a joy to work with because he always had a smile on his face every single day. I will remember him as someone who was a joy to work with and a Premier League title winner.”
Analysis
Diaz was a popular figure at Anfield and contributed 17 goals in all competitions last season, but Slot’s right, given Liverpool’s self-sustaining business model, the fee of £65million ($86.2m) was too good to turn down given the circumstances.
Diaz turns 29 midway through the 2025-26 season and had entered the final two years of his contract, having resisted attempts to get him tied down to an extension. He was pushing for a move and given Bayern’s improved offer, it would have made little sense to keep him against his wishes.
Slot on whether Liverpool need to sign a replacement
“I think if players leave, whether that’s Trent (Alexander-Arnold) or Lucho, then you always need to replace them with quality. But sometimes quality can be in different positions. We have more than a few players who can play in a number of positions.
“At this moment in time, we still have Cody Gakpo, Rio (Ngumoha) is showing very good signs, and I think Florian Wirtz can play from the left side as well. There are enough options for me to choose from. But as I always say, another thing about Liverpool is that if we see a chance in the market, we never hesitate to bring someone in. In the end, it’s about quality, and we have already made some very good signings. In terms of quality, we are already in the right place.”
Analysis
The Athletic reported earlier this week that Liverpool are happy with their left-sided options currently. Gakpo has looked really sharp in pre-season and the emergence of Ngumoha also has to be factored into the club’s decision-making as they don’t want to block his pathway. As well as Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike can also play off the left if required.
What happens next with Slot’s front line will largely hinge on whether Newcastle United change their stance and agree to sanction the sale of Alexander Isak. The departures of Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott could help to finance a British record bid for the Sweden striker.
Slot on whether Ngumoha is ready for Premier League action at the age of 16
“We’ve only played two games over here and we haven’t played against Premier League opponents yet. But I see him train, I see him play, and the impact he has when he trains and plays is really promising.
“Playing in the Premier League, playing every three days with the Champions League games in between, that’s something else. But he’s definitely a player who shows at this moment in time that if he keeps bringing these performances in, then tonight (against Yokohama F Marinos) definitely won’t be the last time he plays a few minutes for Liverpool. It’s all about consistency. He needs to show it every single day we’re on the pitch.”
(Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Analysis
Ngumoha was the standout performer on Liverpool’s pre-season tour of Asia. He caught the eye against Milan in Hong Kong and then raised his game further at Nissan Stadium, where he capped a dazzling cameo display with a classy individual goal.
He only turns 17 at the end of August, so it would be wrong to burden him with too many expectations for the coming season. But if he continues to hit these heights, Slot won’t be able to hold him back.
Ngumoha has endeared himself to senior players and staff with his attitude and application as well as his talent. He certainly won’t be loaned out and could be a useful impact player off the bench against tiring top-flight defences.
Slot on winning the race for the signature of Florian Wirtz
“Yeah, it does (say a lot about where Liverpool are at as a club). The way we do that is we don’t just think, ‘Let’s bring a midfielder in’. This is a long-term project for the club. It’s the way this club has worked over several years: targeting a specific player who we think can strengthen the squad and can bring us quality. Then we try to bring him in.
“With Florian, it worked out quite well because he’s with us now.”
Analysis
Liverpool faced competition from Bayern Munich and Manchester City to sign Wirtz. When the Germany international was pondering his next move after deciding to leave Bayer Leverkusen, he was blown away by the scenes at Anfield during the title celebrations and during the trophy parade when more than a million fans lined the streets of the city.
(Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Slot’s impressive pitch to him about why he wanted him and where he would fit into the team also helped Liverpool secure the club-record deal. The fee could rise to a British record £116m if various add-ons are triggered.
Slot on the contrast to last summer and the decision to significantly refresh the squad with a club-record outlay on transfers in this window
“You know better than me, but as well as being historic in terms of a spending summer, is it also in terms of bringing money in?
“Did Liverpool in the past five or six years ever sell players like Jarell Quansah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Caoimhin Kelleher, and Luis Diaz? And who knows what else is going to happen? You have to look at it both ways.
“I think this club has always worked like this. We do spend, but if we spend, then we always need to recoup some money. It’s what we already started last summer when we only brought in Federico Chiesa, but we sold three or four players, which meant a big profit. So if you balance things out, we’ve spent, for sure, but we’ve also recouped money.”
Analysis
Liverpool have signed seven new players so far this summer, but that includes three goalkeepers, with Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman, and Armin Pecsi providing backup to Alisson.
Their total expenditure, including add-ons, is just shy of £300m, with Jeremie Frimpong, Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Ekitike also on board. The sales of Alexander-Arnold, Kelleher, Quansah, Nat Phillips and Diaz could bring in up to £129m. That figure will rise sharply if, as expected, Nunez, Elliott and Tyler Morton move on.
Ekitike in action during the pre-season tour (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
On Slot’s point about bringing in money, Liverpool haven’t generated this much from sales in a single window since Philippe Coutinho joined Barcelona for £142m in January 2018.
And he’s right about last summer when Chiesa cost an initial fee of £10m from Juventus, while the exits of Sepp van den Berg, Fabio Carvalho and Bobby Clark yielded up to £62m.
Slot on the challenge of getting new faces to gel, having benefited from such a settled squad last season
“Yeah, but the majority of the team has stayed the same. If you look at tonight, we had a new goalkeeper (Mamardashvili), but that was for an obvious reason, as usually Alisson would play.
“We had Milos (Kerkez), Florian (Wirtz) and Hugo (Ekitike) out there, but the other seven were from last season. Of course, you have to adjust a little bit to the qualities of certain players, but we haven’t changed too much. Once, during my time at Feyenoord, we sold 14 players and had to bring in many players. That’s not the situation here.
“We have brought in a few very talented players, but the core of the group has stayed the same. These players have to make a step up again as well because our competition are not standing still.”
Analysis
There’s bound to be a period of adjustment given all the changes, but it clearly doesn’t faze Slot, who believes the injection of fresh talent will help to lift standards even higher and provide the depth required to challenge for trophies on all fronts.
There’s no doubt that a refresh this summer was required, especially with right-back Alexander-Arnold moving on and the need to find a long-term successor for left-back Andy Robertson.
Liverpool have added youth, pace and dynamism in Frimpong and Kerkez. Wirtz already looks the part in the No 10 role and there were promising signs from Ekitike as he led the line on his debut.
If Liverpool could land Isak and bring in another centre-back, this would be close to a perfect window for them.
(Top photo: Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
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