Adam Wharton and Yan Diomande IN: How Liverpool could've lined up this season

11 Sept 2026 06:30 BST |
5 min read

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Liverpool spent more than €269 million in the hopes of building a fresh start under Andoni Iraola but their squad is still far from complete despite their business.

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The 2025 Premier League champions finished fifth after a world record spend last summer, which led to Arne Slot departing and Iraola being brought in to make sense of their costly squad.

The €125m capture of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain gave Liverpool their ideal target for the summer, while Victor Munoz, Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo arrived as the other senior signings.

However, Liverpool still had a lot of players they missed out on and FootballTransfers takes a look at what their line-up would look like had they signed all their top targets.

How Liverpool could’ve lined up in 2026-27

Alisson remains Liverpool’s first choice goalkeeper and he will continue to be backed up by Giorgi Mamardashvili, although the €33m signing of Lucca Brughmans was a clear sign of the future, with the 18-year-old spending this season on loan at Genk, from where he was signed.

At right-back, Liverpool opted to stick with the unconvincing Jeremie Frimpong and the perpetually injured Conor Bradley but they were reported to have considered rivalling Chelsea to sign Marco Palestra from Atalanta.

© IMAGO – Marco Palestra joined Chelsea after Liverpool hesitated on a move.

Liverpool ultimately decided that they had other priorities than spending €50m on a right-back and the 21-year-old eventually joined Chelsea but the Italian would have fitted perfectly in Andoni Iraola’s team if he had been available for a cheaper price.

Having lost Ibrahima Konate on a free transfer to Real Madrid, Liverpool replaced him with Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona on a low-risk deal that looks to be proving a shrewd signing so far.

Jeremy Jacquet also joined the Reds after agreeing a move in January and the 20-year-old hasn’t looked out of place alongside Virgil van Dijk, with Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni also providing depth.

Liverpool also stuck with their options at left-back despite Milos Kerkez’s difficult first season, choosing to rely on Kostas Tsimikas as a backup instead of replacing the departed Andrew Robertson.

Arguably the most controversial move of Liverpool’s window was not signing a defensive midfielder despite selling Curtis Jones, leaving Iraola’s side somewhat imbalanced in the middle of the park even with Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister all available.

© IMAGO – Adam Wharton has been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool.

Adam Wharton is believed to be Liverpool’s ideal target but Crystal Palace did not entertain talks to sell the England international, prompting the Merseysiders to spend their resources elsewhere instead of trying a cheaper option like Monaco’s Lamine Camara.

Liverpool’s biggest priority of the summer was replacing the legendary Mohamed Salah at right wing and Yan Diomande was the club’s top target for that role, only for RB Leipzig to reject their €100m offer, leading to the 19-year-old joining Real Madrid for €125m.

While the likes of Ismaila Sarr, Yankuba Minteh and Ibrahima Mbaye were also pursued, the €40m signing of Munoz from Osasuna, as well as Barcola’s arrival, were the only wide players to arrive.

© IMAGO – Yan Diomande joined Real Madrid after Liverpool had a bid turned down.

Barcola and Diomande would have provided the quality on the wings, with Munoz and Rio Ngumoha as backups, although another winger signing would have likely resulted in Cody Gakpo leaving for Tottenham or Manchester City after their big money bids.

The now-fit Alexander Isak has been relied on the lead the line this season, particularly with Hugo Ekitike injured, while Florian Wirtz will also hope for a better campaign this time around in the number ten role, with Liverpool hoping last summer’s signings will prove to be the difference maker above all.