Liverpool's Summer Overhaul Under Andoni Iraola: Seven Signings Needed

Liverpool face a summer of upheaval under new head coach Andoni Iraola, with claims the club may need as many as seven signings to repair what insiders describe as “major issues” in the squad.

The former Bournemouth boss has signed a two-year deal to succeed Arne Slot and walks into a dressing room stripped of some of its biggest names and braced for more departures. Liverpool’s limp defence of their 20th Premier League title has only sharpened the sense that this is a squad at the end of a cycle.

A squad creaking all over the pitch

The headline exits are already known. Mohamed Salah has gone. Andy Robertson is also on his way out. Now even Alisson Becker is being linked with a move, with Football Insider reporting that the Brazilian “could be the next big name to go”.

Liverpool have already blocked an approach from Juventus for Alisson, but the goalkeeper is due to hold talks with the Anfield hierarchy over his future. If he goes, that’s another pillar of the Klopp era removed.

One source quoted by Football Insider painted a stark picture of what Iraola inherits.

“Iraola is going to face some major issues immediately,” the source said. “We were expecting his arrival to be announced, so he will already have assessed his squad, and he will know there are problems there.

“I would say there are probably six or seven positions with players already in need of replacing.”

That assessment cuts right through the spine of the team. The same source pointed to Alisson’s uncertain future, Robertson’s exit, the expectation that Ibrahima Konaté will also be leaving, and the reality that Virgil van Dijk is now 34 and “ageing”. On top of that, Liverpool “need a right-back”.

Higher up the pitch, the gaps widen. Salah has gone. Hugo Ekitike, brought in to add thrust in attack, is out until next year with injury. “So there’s another two players needing to be replaced,” the source added. “Already, that’s multiple key positions that need dealing with.”

Seven signings on the agenda

Against that backdrop, Football Insider report that Liverpool are being backed to “complete seven new signings” this summer, with Iraola’s task framed as an urgent rebuild rather than a gentle refresh.

Wide areas are a clear priority. With Salah gone and Ekitike sidelined, Liverpool are understood to be looking at bringing in two wingers. Yan Diomande of RB Leipzig has been mooted as a leading target to help fill the void on the right, with the possibility of a swap deal involving an underperforming Liverpool player under discussion.

But the surgery will not stop there. The club are expected to seek upgrades at right-back, centre-back and central midfield, reshaping the core of a side that has carried the burden of title challenges and European runs for years.

“Iraola will know that better than anybody, he will be prepared,” the Football Insider source said. “It’s now about whether he will get that backing, and I expect he will, to make the changes that need to be made.”

Backing or bust

The scale of the job is obvious. A defence potentially losing Alisson, Robertson and Konaté, built around a Van Dijk moving into the final phase of his career. A forward line stripped of Salah’s goals and invention, with key cover injured. A midfield still searching for its next true leader.

This is not a tweak. It is a reconstruction.

“Ultimately, the goal for Iraola at Liverpool is going to be to make them successful again,” the source concluded. “But to do that, he’s going to need a lot of support.”

Liverpool have chosen their man. Now the question is simple: will they give him the tools to tear this team down and build a new one in time for next season’s first whistle?