Pre-season is just over a week away. The Andoni Iraola era at Liverpool is still finding its feet, but the clock is ticking, and the questions are already stacking up. On the pitch, things can wait. Off it, they really cannot.

The Reds are heading Stateside for their pre-season campaign, with fixtures against Sunderland in Nashville, Wrexham in New York, and Leeds in Chicago. It will be the first proper look at Iraola's Liverpool in competitive conditions, even if the matches themselves are warm-ups. Meanwhile, Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz remain the only new arrivals through the door at Anfield — modest business, to put it politely, for a club that shipped 53 Premier League goals last season.

That number is worth sitting with for a moment. Fifty-three goals conceded across a 38-match top-flight campaign. Liverpool's worst defensive return in the Premier League era. It is the backdrop against which everything this summer must be judged, and it is the context that makes the current conversation around Virgil van Dijk so difficult to ignore.

Former England international Chris Waddle has waded in, and while pundit opinions should always be taken with appropriate scepticism, he has articulated something that plenty of Liverpool supporters have been quietly thinking. Speaking to OLBG, Waddle questioned whether the Reds skipper would even feature prominently under Iraola this season, pointing to what he believes is the fundamental problem at the heart of the Liverpool defence.

"Andoni Iraola has done a marvellous job, nobody can question what he achieved at Bournemouth," Waddle said. "He likes to play on the front foot and, as a good tactician, he prefers an attacking style that suits the way Liverpool play and what their fans want to see. I think they crave excitement, they want to see the team attacking."

"I think he will definitely do that. But are the players good enough? Will he be allowed to bring in new players? Will Virgil van Dijk be playing this season?"

It is a blunt set of questions, but not unreasonable ones. Waddle went further, arguing that the tactical critiques levelled at Liverpool last season missed the real root cause of their struggles.

"Last year, while many pointed to tactics, I believe the real issue was the middle of the defence. If they can strengthen that, there's no reason why Liverpool can't challenge again this season," he said. "Van Dijk obviously still has a big influence on the Liverpool squad, so you might keep him for another year and use him in specific games. But again, if he's performing well, you play him. But I just think that central position is the key issue for Liverpool."

"He's not going to get any quicker. He's always read the game well and has always been technically sound. But when you lose that yard of pace, it's difficult in the Premier League. The league is so quick. I thought that last year, regardless of who his centre-half partner was, they struggled."

There is a brutal honesty in those words that is hard to dismiss entirely. Van Dijk has 12 months remaining on his contract and has been linked with AC Milan and clubs in Turkey, though the club have reportedly moved quickly and firmly to shut down any suggestion of a departure. He is still the captain. He is still, for many, the symbol of what Liverpool can be at their best. But the debate over whether he remains the player who can anchor a title challenge is no longer fringe thinking — it is a central question of the summer.

Iraola's task is to answer it. And answer it well.

Elsewhere, there is movement — or at least, the suggestion of it — on the Bradley Barcola front. The Athletic has reported that Paris Saint-Germain are being "realistic" about the possibility of losing the winger, acknowledging that he has just two years remaining on his contract and is not guaranteed a starting place in their squad. That combination of circumstances tends to have a way of focusing minds on all sides.

Barcola has been firmly identified as a Liverpool target this summer, understood to be one of four alternatives being considered following developments around Yan Diomande, who appears set to head to PSG. Arsenal have also been credited with interest, though they are reportedly directing their primary attention elsewhere at present.

The 23-year-old featured for France in their World Cup semi-final before their tournament ended in defeat on Tuesday evening. With his international commitments now concluded, the expectation is that clarity on his club future could arrive sooner rather than later. Earlier reports had placed PSG's asking price in the region of £130 million — a significant outlay by any measure, but one that would signal genuine intent from Liverpool in the transfer market.

The World Cup concludes this weekend, and with it, the window for serious transfer business is expected to swing open properly. Liverpool have been patient. Whether that patience has been strategic or simply slow is something the coming weeks will answer.

Iraola arrives with a reputation built on clarity of thought and intensity of purpose. He will need both in abundance — because between resolving the Van Dijk question and landing the right additions in the market, this is shaping up to be a defining summer for a club that simply cannot afford another 53-goal season.