The right-wing gap Liverpool still need to fill

Spending close to £200million in your first transfer window is no small statement of intent, yet Andoni Iraola's Liverpool still head into the new season without a natural right-winger on the books. Moves for Yankuba Minteh and Ismaila Sarr, both pursued as long-term successors to Mohamed Salah, collapsed in the closing stages of the window, and the club knows that is unfinished business. For now, Victor Munoz and Rio Ngumoha have been asked to cover that right flank, but it is hardly a permanent solution to replacing one of the greatest players ever to pull on the red shirt.

The summer had its bright spots, Jeremy Jacquet, Munoz and Bradley Barcola all arrived to bolster Iraola's squad, but the failure to land a direct Salah replacement left a sour note. When you miss on two targets in the same position during the same window, you do not simply move on. You sharpen your focus and come back harder, and that is precisely what Liverpool look set to do.

Rayan and a £130m clause that could change everything

The name generating serious attention is Rayan, the 20-year-old Brazilian winger currently lighting up the Premier League at Bournemouth. According to The Athletic, a £130m release clause will become available to activate from next summer, and given that Iraola brought the youngster to the Cherries in January, there is already a connection there that Liverpool supporters will not have missed.

The numbers from his debut Premier League half-season make compelling reading: five goals and two assists across 15 matches is a genuine return for a teenager still adjusting to English football. Bournemouth are expected to resist any approaches before that release clause kicks in, which means Liverpool would have to wait, and wait patiently, but a structured, pre-planned move for a player of this profile is far preferable to another window of scrambling for alternatives. At £130m, it would be the biggest statement the club has made in years. Whether FSG are prepared to pull that trigger is the question that will dominate the next several months.

Who steps into Richard Hughes' shoes?

As if the right-wing situation were not enough to navigate, Liverpool are also without a sporting director after Richard Hughes' departure was confirmed last week. The Scotsman chose to leave Anfield a year before his contract was due to expire, and the void he leaves in the club's football operations is a significant one. Getting the appointment right matters enormously, whoever takes the role will be central to how Liverpool approach the January window and beyond.

The leading name, per The Athletic, is Julian Ward, a figure with real history at Anfield. Ward served as sporting director in 2022 following Michael Edwards' exit and is currently FSG's technical director, meaning he knows the club's structure inside out. Also mentioned as internal candidates are assistant sporting director David Woodfine and director of football development Pedro Marques, though an external appointment has not been ruled out. A decision on this will set the tone for everything that follows, including whether that Rayan pursuit ever gets off the ground.

Get the sporting director right, get the winger right, and Liverpool's summer could look very different to the one they have just endured.