Liverpool's Summer Questions: Right Wing, Right-Back, and Future Challenges

Less than a month to go. Liverpool are in the United States, learning the ways of Andoni Iraola, and the clock is ticking towards the Premier League’s opening weekend. The backdrop is stark: Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konaté have all departed for nothing at the end of last season. Big personalities, big gaps, and no easy fixes.

Supporters want answers. The issues are piling up.

Bajcetic at Right-Back? Not Any Time Soon

One question cut straight to the point: could Stefan Bajcetic become an option at right-back for Iraola?

Technically, he has done it before. September 2023, a brief stint that did little to convince anyone this was his long-term future. It feels a lifetime ago now.

For Bajcetic, the challenge is more basic and more urgent: get fit, stay fit, and force his way back into contention for regular minutes. That may even require another loan move to rebuild rhythm and confidence. The idea of him being groomed as a serious right-back option for Liverpool is far down the road. Right now, it’s about recovery, not reinvention.

Life After Salah: The Right-Wing Dilemma

Replacing Salah isn’t a tweak. It’s a rebuild of an entire side’s attacking balance. So what are Liverpool actually doing about it?

They were prepared to go big. An £86m move for Yan Diomande was on the table, but RB Leipzig refused to sell at that figure and the player appears set on Paris Saint-Germain. That door has all but closed.

Attention has turned elsewhere. PSG’s Bradley Barcola is on the shortlist, though his price tag currently sits north of £100m. Brighton’s Yanbuka Minteh has been assessed, as have Said El Mala of Köln and Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo. Earlier in the window, Liverpool also made an enquiry about Monaco’s Maghnes Akliouche.

Intriguingly, none of those names has moved yet. The market is static, the options are known, and Liverpool are deep in their homework phase. There will be other scouting targets that haven’t surfaced publicly, and history suggests the club are not afraid of a leftfield call if the profile is right.

One thing is not in doubt: Iraola has been clear that a new right-winger is not a luxury. It’s essential.

Centre-Forward: Isak’s Burden and Thin Cover

Another concern is obvious when you look at the squad list: Alexander Isak stands alone as the recognised centre-forward, and his body doesn’t always play ball.

Liverpool want to bolster the forward line with that new right-winger, but the situation through the middle is just as delicate. Hugo Ekitike’s long-term injury strips away depth and increases the risk of overloading Isak before Christmas.

If no additional striker arrives, the solutions are imperfect and familiar. Cody Gakpo could again be asked to plug gaps down the middle. Florian Wirtz might be used as a false nine. Federico Chiesa offers another alternative. None of them truly convinced in that role last season, yet all remain on the tactical whiteboard as contingency plans.

Beyond that, the pathway points to the Academy. When fit, Jayden Danns is ahead of Will Wright in the pecking order. It’s a big ask for teenagers, but this is the reality when one injury can expose the entire structure of a forward line.

Richard Hughes: One Window and Out?

Off the pitch, there is another looming change. Sporting director Richard Hughes is widely expected to leave once the summer window closes, with Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League seen as his most likely next stop.

Liverpool have already cycled through several sporting directors in recent years. Continuity has been elusive. One possible internal solution is Julian Ward, currently technical director for Fenway Sports Group, and a familiar figure at Anfield. For now, though, there is no clear sign that a successor has been lined up or agreed.

The club face a delicate moment: a major rebuild under a new head coach, with the architect of the current window potentially walking away as soon as the deals are done.

Young Tourists in America: Who Can Actually Break Through?

The pre-season tour in the United States is full of young faces. Some are on the brink, others are just starting the climb.

James McConnell, Lewis Koumas, Calum Scanlon, Luke Chambers and Harvey Davies have all tasted loan football. That experience matters, but it also points to the next step: most of them are likely to head out again to keep playing regularly.

Then there’s the buzz name: Josh Abe. At 16, the highly regarded winger has turned heads, but Liverpool will probably prioritise a full season of Premier League 2 action with the under-21s and UEFA Youth League minutes with the under-19s over throwing him straight into senior chaos.

Two youngsters stand slightly closer to the first-team door. Will Wright and Kieran Morrison, who signed a new deal in the summer, are realistic candidates for the League Cup squad in September. Morrison, 19, already has two senior appearances to his name and will not be overawed by the step.

New 18-year-old centre-back signing Ifeanyi Ndukwe will also have chances to impress on tour. These are small windows, but under a new head coach, they can quickly become something more.

Right-Back and Djed Spence: An Awkward Puzzle

Right-back might be the most awkward riddle of the lot.

Iraola has nailed his colours to the mast: Conor Bradley is his first choice. The problem is timing. Bradley is still months away from a return, and his injury record as a professional is patchy enough to give any planner a headache.

Jeremie Frimpong is next in line. Electric going forward, less convincing going the other way, and he has had his own injury issues since arriving last summer.

Last season’s patchwork solutions tell their own story. Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo all filled in. Gomez is now needed in the middle of defence, Endo is still working back towards full fitness, and Jones and Szoboszlai are midfielders being dragged out of position rather than natural fits.

The ideal fix? Either a centre-back comfortable at right-back or a specialist right-back on a season-long loan. Liverpool do not want to spend heavily on a player they already accept will drop out of the side once Bradley is fully back. Yet they can’t ignore the possibility that Bradley’s availability may fluctuate.

That’s where the question of Djed Spence comes in. On paper, he’s a right-back. In reality, he doesn’t fit the profile. He would be expensive, and crucially, he is not the hybrid centre-back/right-back solution that would truly ease the squad’s structural strain.

And there’s a final warning that Liverpool, of all clubs, should heed: never buy a player off the back of a good World Cup alone.

The window is open, the tour is rolling, and the questions aren’t going away. How Liverpool answer them in the next few weeks will shape not just Iraola’s first season, but the direction of the entire project.