The numbers do not add up yet

A new manager, a new era, and yet the dominant feeling around Anfield this summer has been one of quiet anxiety rather than genuine excitement. Andoni Iraola is here, the Premier League season is upon us, and Liverpool supporters are watching players leave whilst the arrivals board stays stubbornly blank.

Set aside the £60m committed to Jeremy Jacquet back in January and Liverpool are, remarkably, roughly at break-even for the summer. Victor Munoz came in for £34.5m, and Curtis Jones is heading out the door to Inter for £30m. That is not the profile of a club preparing to compete on multiple fronts, particularly with Champions League football back on the agenda.

The concern is not just the numbers, either. It is the pace. Liverpool have known what they need for weeks now. A winger, possibly two. A midfielder, almost certainly. And yet the window is draining away.

Barcola, Gakpo and a queue of problems at the same position

The Bradley Barcola situation has become a masterclass in frustration. Iraola admitted publicly over a month ago that he wanted to see a winger arrive at the club, and Barcola himself is reportedly keen to be part of the project. So far so promising. The problem is PSG, successive Champions League winners and one of the wealthiest clubs on the planet, are not the sort of negotiating partner who feel any particular urgency to move things along quickly.

Meanwhile, the Cody Gakpo picture is muddying the water further. Tottenham Hotspur are genuinely interested, and whilst Gakpo is not the type to agitate or behave unprofessionally to force a move, there is reported unease in his camp about the prospect of Liverpool spending a club record fee on a player who operates directly in his position. Liverpool insist they are not looking to sell and that the wide areas are precisely where they want to strengthen. But a sufficiently large offer from Spurs would give anyone pause for thought. If Gakpo goes, Liverpool need three forwards, not one.

The midfield question that refuses to go away

This one is older than it looks. Since Fabinho's form collapsed at the start of the 2022/23 season, Liverpool have repeatedly found themselves without a genuinely commanding presence at the base of midfield. They have tried and failed to bring in that profile, with Moises Caicedo and Martin Zubimendi among those who slipped through their fingers in recent windows.

Now Curtis Jones is departing, and whilst there is a school of thought inside the club that Trey Nyoni can be brought into the first-team picture more regularly, the counterargument is hard to ignore. Nyoni was available every single week under Arne Slot last season and did not establish himself as a regular starter. Pre-season form is encouraging, but that is a significant step up in expectation.

Iraola appears to favour a two-man midfield pivot rather than three, which changes the shape of the need but does not eliminate it. Letting Jones leave without a senior replacement in place feels like a gamble, and opinion from inside credible circles is that at least one midfielder is needed before the window shuts.

What happens next matters enormously

The honest assessment from those close to the situation is that Liverpool need a minimum of three signings: a midfielder and at least two wide players, ideally one capable of operating centrally to ease the pressure on the striking position. The squad is one injury away from a genuine crisis up front, and that is not a position any club heading into a Champions League campaign should accept.

There is money available. Champions League football brings resource, and last summer's historic outlay does not negate the need to keep investing. The next few days need to be decisive ones at Anfield, because the clock is ticking and patience among supporters is wearing thin. How Iraola's squad looks when the window finally slams shut will define a huge amount of what this season becomes.