Arne Slot has highlighted the importance of wingers to Liverpool’s prospects of recovery, and claimed this season’s disappointment can be rectified with the correct squad additions.
Liverpool ended a difficult campaign by qualifying for the Champions League but also their lowest points total and goals scored since 2015-16, a season in which Brendan Rodgers was sacked and replaced by Jürgen Klopp. A sharp decline in goals and assists from wide areas was a factor, with Liverpool failing to replace Luis Díaz, and Mohamed Salah’s impact diminishing in his final season at the club.
Yan Diomande is a leading target for the deposed Premier League champions after a breakthrough season with Leipzig, although the Bundesliga club want to keep the 19-year-old for their forthcoming Champions League campaign. Bradley Barcola of Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon are also among several options being considered. Slot says “at least one” winger is required, and that it would enable his team to recapture the form that delivered the title in his first season.
The Liverpool head coach said: “One of the reasons why everyone is talking about wingers is because Mo is leaving. It makes complete sense to think about at least one. I think last season gives you the answer because of how important our wingers were to our success last season. They were scoring goals, providing goals, so they were a vital part of us winning the league last season and, in general in football, you see more and more focus on wingers.”
Slot believes the right profile of winger will not only bring the best out of Alexander Isak after a bad start to the striker’s Liverpool career but spark an overall improvement. He admits no one at Liverpool reproduced the levels of 2024-25.
“Last season, one of the reasons why we were so difficult to play against was because we had threats over on the right side, on the left side,” Slot said. “It was not only the wingers, it is the combination between the winger and the full-back. Last season I think if you had to describe the style of play I would describe it as very reliant on the winger-full-back combinations. We have tried that this season again but there hasn’t been the end product that we had last season. That is not to say it only about them. We all – me included – didn’t bring the same level.”