Liverpool fans who hoped to see the Reds add to their team in January were ultimately disappointed. As deadline day passed with little to report from Anfield, loan exits for young players Jayden Danns and Kaide Gordon were the extent of their activity.
While Arne Slot has assured that Liverpool ‘absolutely working on strengthening in the summer,’ Federico Chiesa is still the lone addition to the squad that the Dutchman took over from Jurgen Klopp last year.
Admittedly, the Reds’ close-season transfer action has already begun, with goalie Giorgi Mamardashvili officially confirmed to be signing in a £29 million move from Valencia.
It remains to be seen how busy Liverpool will be beyond that, with some of their players’ futures uncertain, including out-of-contract Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Depending on departures, the Reds may be in the market for a right-back, centre-back, left-back, defensive midfielder, winger, or centre-forward.
But such thoughts may wait until the summer, as Slot’s current group is focused on continuing to compete for all four major titles.
Liverpool may not have added to their ranks, but they did not lose any senior players. Slot still has 22 senior players vying for starting positions, with Vitezslav Jaros, Tyler Morton, James McConnell, Rio Ngumoha, and Trey Nyoni on hand to add depth.
Slot exhibited such depth by leaving out both Joe Gomez and Chiesa from his matchday lineup against Bournemouth on Saturday, despite having a fully fit squad available to him. While Trent Alexander-Arnold was later sidelined with a slight thigh injury, the Reds’ hand remains very strong.
Six points clear at the top of the Premier League, through to the Champions League round of 16, having won the inaugural league phase, and facing a League Cup semi-final and FA Cup fourth round fixture in the coming days, Slot’s side are in a strong position.
While some fans may have wanted to see Liverpool add to their ranks from such a position, it appears that the attitude at Anfield was, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t repair it.’
However, the Reds were not alone. They were one of six Premier League teams that did not make any additions to their roster in January. Such a hexet consists of all of the current top four, though Nottingham Forest signed Tyler Bindon on deadline day before loaning him back to Reading for the rest of the season – Newcastle United and Fulham.
As a result, Manchester City was the only team in the Premier League’s top six to make mid-season additions to their roster.
Signing Nico Gonzalez (£50 million), Omar Marmoush (£59 million), Abdukodir Khusanov (£33.6 million), and Vitor Reis (£29.6 million), their total spending of £180 million was more than the rest of the Premier League combined (£177 million). Meanwhile, it is the second-highest winter window spend in history, trailing only Chelsea’s £275 million in January 2023.
City’s investment comes as no surprise given that they are currently 15 points behind Liverpool, having been humiliated 5-1 by Arsenal in their most recent game, and face a Champions League knockout phase play-off against Real Madrid after barely making it through the league phase.
Pep Guardiola’s side has had a disastrous first half of the season and will have a battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with their chances of retaining their Premier League title long gone.
While City had little choice but to twist and add to their ranks in January, the four teams above them (Liverpool, Arsenal, Forest, and Chelsea) appeared willing to stick with the hands they already had, given their stellar seasons thus far.
That was certainly the case for Slot and the Reds, as the Dutchman reiterated his confidence in his present squad last week.
“I know some people question this because they haven’t seen us do much in the transfer market in the summer or now in the winter,” he told Gary Lineker in an interview for BBC Sport’s Football Focus. “There’s a reason for that – because we’re happy with the squad.”
It’s no surprise that the teams at the top of the ladder are the happiest with their rosters.
However, it should be noted that Arsenal and Forest both attempted and failed to recruit a new forward in January, with bids for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins and Brentford’s Yoane Wissa rejected. However, such failure is not as severe as it may have been if battling at the opposite end of the table.
With the Premier League title battle clearly reduced to a two-horse fight between Liverpool and Arsenal, Mikel Arteta’s team remains unchanged, which is undoubtedly a bonus for the Reds. The Emirates will not get a boost as they continue to face Slot’s men with the ranks they now have.
Despite all of the discussion about Arsenal’s injury issues this season, they are only expected to be missing long-term absentees Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka when they return to Premier League play at home against Leicester City on February 15.
Liverpool’s next game is against Everton on February 12, and the true points disparity between the Reds and the Gunners is about to be revealed.
With neither Liverpool nor Arsenal’s hands changed from the first half of the season now that the transfer window has closed, the two championship rivals must continue as they were. Having lost only once and twice respectively in this season’s Premier League thus far, near-perfection is required as they attempt to sustain such high standards, with the long race to the finish line in May about to begin.