Liverpool FC still have a lot to figure out in the summer transfer window, so it’s a good thing that it’ll still open for another 40+ days. There has been speculation on the future of goalkeeper Alisson Becker while midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has been linked with a move to Spain, with Real Madrid said to be interested. Andoni Iraola was asked about both topics, and a whole lot more, yesterday, during his press conference at the Endeavor Health Performance Center on the west side of Chicago.
And The Sports Bank was in attendance for this specific media session.
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Iraola was also asked about the Dominik Szoboszlai contract extension and what it says about his future at the club. (Read more about that here).
On the Mac Allister situation, Iraola responded:
“I think Alexis has been one of the best players of the club last year and has done a very good World Cup. It is normal that other clubs want our best players, our good players, it always happens in other markets.
“But I want to, also as other clubs want, I want to keep my good players. Probably I’m looking forward more to signing new players than the ones we have here.”
It was kind of a non-answer, but basically, the first year manager was making it clear how much the Argentine midfielder means to the club.
Iraola, 44, did make it clear what Liverpool’s needs in the transfer market are, however.
“There are obvious situations where we need to sign players,” Iraola said.
“Winger for example, we definitely need to sign a winger, but there are other situations where we will have to analyze what the market gives you, what is the cost, how we also see the players we have.”
Liverpool have already added two players this summer: defender Jérémy Jacquet and forward Víctor Muñoz. However, the Reds have also already seen three players depart the club: Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konaté.
Regarding the Alisson situation, the Spaniard said:
“I’m very happy with the situation we have right now in the goalkeeping area. We have Alisson, we have Giorgi [Mamardashvili]. We are going to send on loan, for example, Armin [Pecsi], ’keepers that probably are in another phase, but have the guarantee of those ’keepers that already because of different reasons also… the three of them here, Freddie [Woodman] played some games [in the] past season, I think it’s a guarantee for us.
He then continued on:
“Alisson is someone also in a changing room that has lost some references in terms of experience, I think he’s someone that definitely will help us in this process of adaptation of the new signings, of the new players, the young players. We need the references like Virgil [van Dijk], like Alisson, like Joe Gomez, players that have been here for a long time. And I’m sure we will have this help, yes.”
Elsewhere, the Merseyside club have depth issues at the right-back position, given the long-term injury to Conor Bradley.
Iraola was asked if it’s something they might want to address in the transfer window.
“I think it depends on Conor’s situation,” he responded.
“At the end if you have a fully fit, healthy Conor Bradley, we are very happy, ready to go and we would not be asking ourselves these questions. I think it’s a situation that is tricky, because we trust Conor in the long term, we know we want him to be our right-back but right now he is still, I would say, a little bit far from returning.
“So, with the centre-back, with the right-back situation, in terms of defensive depth, we are, I think, very thin right now so I think it’s a solution that we are trying to find, yes.
Liverpool will be back in Chicago on August 2nd to face Leeds United at Soldier Field.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.