Liverpool's Winger Dilemma: Iraola's Transfer Strategy

Andoni Iraola does not bother dressing it up. Liverpool, he says, are short of wingers and short of time – and the clock is ticking towards deadline day.

The new head coach has already seen a £50m offer for Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh knocked back and Liverpool have sounded out Paris St-Germain over Ibrahim Mbaye. PSG’s Bradley Barcola remains the prime target for the wide attacking role Iraola craves, but for now, the gaps are still there.

“I wanted the players for the first day on 13 July – everyone here and all the positions doubled with top-level players,” Iraola admitted when asked about the state of the squad. That ideal never arrived. The market stayed open, the season edged closer, and Liverpool’s new era began with an obvious imbalance.

So he adjusts. He has to.

“You understand how the competition works, that (the) market is open and you start the competition. We have to adapt as coaches to this situation,” he said. “I hate these two weeks or these 10 days that we have because there is a lot of uncertainty – but not in Liverpool, everywhere. But we have to adapt.”

A squad in flux

Since Iraola replaced Arne Slot, Liverpool’s recruitment has been aggressive in some areas and conspicuously light in others. Victor Munoz has arrived for £34.5m to bolster midfield and attack, while Ronald Araujo has come in on loan from Barcelona to stiffen the defence.

Jeremy Jacquet, the highly rated French centre-half, has also joined from Rennes in a £60m deal, though that move was sealed back in January. Central areas look well stocked. Out wide, it is a different story.

The exits have been brutal in terms of experience and identity. Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate have all departed this summer, ripping out three pillars of the Jürgen Klopp era. Curtis Jones is in Italy to complete a £30m move to Inter Milan, another homegrown thread about to be cut.

So when Iraola is asked what he still needs, he does not hesitate.

“There are certain situations that for me are clear – especially now on the wing because we don't have enough players specific to play in those positions,” he said. The issue is not just numbers, but profiles. He wants natural wide players, not makeshift solutions.

And yet he refuses to chase bodies for the sake of it.

“It's not about signing because we need a player here. No, it's about improving the squad. And we have very good players already here, so to improve our very good players, you need like a specific level of player, yes.”

That is why Liverpool keep pushing for Barcola, why they tested Brighton’s resolve on Minteh, why Mbaye has been discussed. The standard has been set high; the shortlist is short.

“We will definitely sign some players”

The uncertainty does not appear to rattle Iraola, but he does not hide from it either. Speaking to Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports, he was blunt about what comes next.

“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.”

This is not a new theme. During Liverpool’s pre-season tour in the USA, Iraola voiced similar concerns about defensive depth. Inside Anfield, the message has landed. The expectation is clear: Liverpool will be busy in the final stretch of the window.

The tension now lies between planning and improvisation. Iraola wanted a settled squad in mid-July. Instead, he is navigating the opening weeks with moving parts and open negotiations, trying to build patterns of play while key roles remain unfilled.

Curtis Jones and a painful goodbye

Among the moving parts, Curtis Jones is perhaps the most emotional case. A local lad, a player steeped in the club’s identity, now on the verge of a new chapter in Milan.

“With Curtis, you know. I think it's still not official but there is an ongoing situation,” Iraola said. “I understood with Curtis. I talked to him. I think in the first or second training session we talked.”

The respect in his words is obvious.

“I value him a lot as a player. He loved this club – it was very clear since the beginning for me – but I understood that probably the outcome was going to be what it has been at the end.

“I've never hid it - for me Curtis is a very good player. A very, very good player, but I understood straight away when he talked to me about his situation. It was a situation that could happen and it looks like it is going to happen.”

Jones’ departure underlines the scale of the rebuild. This is not just about adding a winger or two; it is about reshaping a squad that has lost leaders, icons and academy products in one summer.

Iraola has his principles and a clear idea of what he wants. The question now is simple: will Liverpool give him the wide firepower he is demanding before the window slams shut, or will the season’s first months be played with that nagging sense of what is still missing?