Liverpool chief makes public transfer admission with Euro 2024, Copa America ongoing
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes has shared that he expects the transfer window to quieten down following the PSR deadline on Monday (1 July).
Hughes and new Liverpool manager Arne Slot held their first press conference on Friday (5 July) and the former suggested there will be less manic activity in the transfer window going forward.
Liverpool have been quiet in the transfer window in recent weeks but the club are ready to move for the right player.
“Naturally when there are major international tournaments, the attention is there. After the flurry in June, it will calm down a little now,” he said in the press conference [5 July].
“When August starts, we’ve had more times to work with players, opinions will be more set. You may see a situation in August, there is a hurry to get things done.”
Hughes added: “It’s been to great work with Arne. We both had jobs to finish. Since then, we’ve been in communication daily.
“We’ve been preparing for the transfer window. We’ll know more as we go. The squad we’ve inherited is very talented but we need to improve. We will be opportunistic if we can.”
Arne Slot prioritises Liverpool development over transfers
Liverpool fans won’t leave the press conference with much to go on as Slot and Hughes kept their cards close to their chest.
Hughes has essentially sent a warning to fans not to expect a plethora of signings as Slot settles into life at Anfield.
The Dutchman added that it is important to work with players on a daily basis for their development.
Whilst a comment that seems obvious, he cited the difference between player’s performances for club and country as reference.
Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez are producing incredible performances for their national teams at Copa America and Euro 2024 respectively after both enduring a mixed season at club level last year.
If they both return from international duty and display similar performances in a Liverpool shirt, there will be no need to make moves in the transfer market for a player such as Anthony Gordon (Daily Mail, 29 June).
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other areas of Slot’s inherited squad that could be improved with new additions.
Wataru Endo said himself that the Reds need to recruit competition in his position (This is Anfield, 29 June) as the 31-year-old only has 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic to contend with.
With Virgil van Dijk just turned 32 years old and the injury record and poor end-of-season form of Ibrahima Konate, the Reds need another centre-back. In an ideal world, they would recruit two.
One important note to take away from the press conference is that Slot wants time to assess the squad before entering the transfer market – don’t expect any activity to take place until next month.
In other Liverpool news, Mohamed Salah makes Olympics decision in Liverpool pre-season update.
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