Liverpool’s runaway title success shows transfers aren’t the answer to everything

Arne Slot’s first season as Liverpool manager could hardly be going any better. The Reds are currently six points clear at the top of the Premier League and are leading the way in the Champions League too, winning seven out of seven matches in the league phase. This season is shaping up to be a special one for the Anfield outfit.

Liverpool have achieved this after making just one permanent signing in last summer’s transfer window. That one addition was Federico Chiesa who has been a peripheral figure, playing just 21 minutes in the Premier League this season. Liverpool’s success proves transfers aren’t the answer to everything.

Of course, it helped that Slot was handed a squad that had already been revitalised under Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool rebuild their midfield in the summer of 2024, bringing in Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Wataru Endo and Dominik Szoboszlai in the same window. Klopp’s handover to his successor was a solid one.

Nonetheless, many argued Liverpool needed a new number six to suit Slot’s possession-based approach. They targeted Martin Zubimendi and had a bid accepted for the midfielder by Real Sociedad only for the player himself to turn them down. It now appears Zubimendi could be on his way to Arsenal instead. 

Rather than hastily signing someone else to occupy the number six position, Liverpool kept their powder dry. Instead, Slot has remoulded the players he already had at his disposal with Mac Allister and Gravenberch the best examples of this. Indeed, the pair have been central to Liverpool’s success this season.

Slot has deployed Mac Allister and Gravenberch as a deep-lying double pivot, giving Liverpool’s attacking players the freedom to get forward. The pair also take it in turns to move into advanced areas themselves with Mac Allister registering three assists in the Premier League this season. Slot’s fingerprints are all over the midfield unit.

Curtis Jones has also found his best form under Slot this season, giving Liverpool energy and dynamism in quick transition. There is so much attacking talent at Anfield it can be easy to overlook the 23-year-old, but he has the potential to be one of the best English players of his generation. Jones has a bright future for club and country.

In attack, Luis Diaz has flourished in a more central role this season with Cody Gakpo also playing his best soccer as a Liverpool player since being shifted out to the right wing. Then there’s Mohamed Salah who might be the best player in the world on current form. The Egyptian is benefiting from not having to do so much work out of possession.

It would remiss to analyse Liverpool’s current situation without mentioning the underlying scenario concerning the immediate future of three of their best players. Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold will all be out of contract at the end of the season, meaning Liverpool might have no choice but to enter the transfer market to replace them.

Alexander-Arnold appears to be the closest to the Anfield exit door having held discussions with Real Madrid. The Spanish giants were reportedly intent on signing the right back this month, but are in pole position to land Alexander-Arnold when he is a free agent at the end of the season. His departure would be a blow to the Reds.

However, Conor Bradley would be ready to step into the void left by Alexander-Arnold, highlighting the exceptional job Liverpool have done building out their squad in recent years. They have a group of players to cover every eventually and the Reds have achieved this with only the seventh largest net spend in the Premier League over the last five seasons.

Liverpool have spent money. They made van Dijk the most expensive defender in history when they signed him from Southampton. Alisson Becker cost £70m. They paid around the same amount to land Darwin Nunez. However, their success is not wholly reliant on spending big. In a soccer world obsessed with transfer speculation, the Premier League and Champions League leaders have shown there is another way.