Liverpool’s Transfer Puzzle: Iraola Eyes Key Signings

Andoni Iraola is not pretending everything is fine. He knows his Liverpool squad is light, and he knows the clock is ticking. The new head coach has made one thing clear: reinforcements are coming before the summer window slams shut. The only questions now are where, and who.

Wings top the shopping list

The flanks are the obvious concern. Liverpool’s wide options lack both depth and the kind of top-level competition a title-chasing side needs, and the recruitment drive has turned decisively towards Paris.

Talks are ongoing with PSG for Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye, two players seen as key to injecting pace, unpredictability and goals from wide areas. Both deals are complicated, both are expensive, and both would reshape Iraola’s attacking options overnight.

Yankuba Minteh has also entered the conversation. Reports say a £50m Liverpool bid has already been knocked back. The sense around the chase, though, is that Minteh may be more leverage than priority – a way of turning the screw on PSG in negotiations for Mbaye rather than the main prize itself.

Either way, the message is unmistakable: Liverpool want two high-level wide forwards, not one, and they want them now.

Midfield stretched as Jones heads for the exit

Then comes the engine room.

Curtis Jones is closing in on a move to Inter Milan, and that potential departure only sharpens a problem that already existed. Even with Jones still on the books, Iraola’s midfield looks one body short for a campaign that will be crammed with fixtures on multiple fronts.

If Jones goes, it becomes non-negotiable. Liverpool will need another midfielder. Not just a body, but someone who can handle the physical and tactical demands of Iraola’s style, and the sheer volume of games.

Adam Wharton would fit that brief perfectly. The Crystal Palace midfielder is admired for his composure and control, and he remains a dream target. The problem is the price. Palace want around £100m, a figure that drags the deal from “ideal” into “almost impossible” territory. Unless something dramatic shifts, Wharton looks more like a fantasy than a realistic arrival.

Right-back debate refuses to go away

Scroll through any Liverpool fan discussion and one issue keeps resurfacing: right-back.

Ronald Araujo can operate there and do a solid job. He offers defensive security and versatility, which Iraola will value. But using a centre-back as a makeshift full-back is a solution, not a plan. For a club with Liverpool’s ambitions, that’s not enough.

The preference is clear: a specialist. Someone who lives in that channel, understands the nuances of the role and can provide both defensive stability and attacking thrust.

That’s where Hector Fort enters the frame. The 20-year-old has caught the eye since Liverpool were first linked with a loan move, his profile ticking several of the right boxes. He is young, mobile, technically sound and available on a deal that wouldn’t swallow the entire budget. As a depth piece who could grow into a bigger role, he makes a lot of sense.

Iraola’s promise: “We will definitely sign some players”

Pressed on the situation in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher put the question every Liverpool supporter has been asking: are more signings actually coming?

Iraola didn’t hesitate.

“We will definitely sign some players. Some deals you have to wait until the end. But the end is the important picture, the one we will have on September 1. Because it is true that we are still quite thin,” the Spaniard said.

Thin. It’s a blunt word, and an accurate one.

Liverpool’s starting XI can still frighten anyone, but the drop-off in certain positions is too steep for a side that wants to attack the 2026/27 Premier League season with real conviction. That’s why Iraola is pushing, and why the final weeks of the window will define the mood around his first campaign.

The ideal quartet

Strip away the noise and one blueprint stands out.

• Two wide forwards: Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye from PSG.
• One midfielder: Adam Wharton, if the price ever drops into the realm of sanity.
• One right-back: Hector Fort, likely on a loan that suits both player and club.

Those four would transform the feel of the squad. Barcola and Mbaye would give Liverpool the width and attacking depth to rotate without fear. Wharton, if a deal could somehow be struck, would offer a long-term midfield pillar. Fort would ease the strain on the back line and finally answer that nagging right-back question.

Will Liverpool actually land all four? That’s another matter. Fees, negotiations and rival interest will all have their say.

But Iraola has nailed his colours to the mast. He wants more players. He knows where the gaps are. And as Deadline Day creeps closer, Liverpool’s season may hinge on how many of those targets walk through the door before the shutters come down.