Liverpool is 16 points (or possibly even fewer) away from winning the Premier League title and with no other competitions left to focus on alongside the main one, Arne Slot — though he won't admit it publicly — can now afford to look ahead to the summer.
A year on from his arrival, it promises to be a big one. And with the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal having lots of catching up to do, Liverpool is already well set up but has the potential to go up another gear or two.
With the final international break of the season already upon us, Slot will have some time away from his players. In part, he can use that to take a break; in part, he can also use it to plan the next few months. And we've taken a look at what could be coming up.
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Liverpool contract decisions made
Liverpool still needs to conclude talks with Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold before thinking fully about transfers this summer. If nothing else, who stays and who goes will dictate which positions need to be prioritized.
With no movement having emerged yet and Van Dijk insisting that nothing is decided yet on his future, things are still up in the air. It is odd that it has come down to this point in the season with no real news either way, but the impasse can't go on forever.
Granted, we have been saying all year long that something will have to give one way or another at some point soon, but the weeks are running out. There are now only nine games left this season and it cannot be put off much longer — quite literally this time. If the end of the season is reached without confirmation on all three one way or another, that would be a major surprise.
Before long, something will have to give when it comes to Ibrahima Konate, too. The Frenchman is only tied down until 2026 and Real Madrid has been credited with holding an interest in him. It really wouldn't be ideal to have to go through the whole of next season with the same question marks hanging over him as Salah, Van Dijk, and Alexander-Arnold.
Summer transfers guaranteed
Liverpool will need reinforcements in a couple of areas this summer, though that will be down largely to who stays and who goes. Darwin Nunez has drawn interest from elsewhere, for instance, and moving on the Uruguayan feels like the right call. If he leaves, however, he will need replacing with an upgrade, which, while it should certainly be possible, won't necessarily be straightforward.
Most obviously, left-back and number nine are the two areas of the starting XI that can be improved instantly with a new signing. Ryan Gravenberch, meanwhile, has been played into the ground, and adding someone to the roster who can help him out would be a major deal too, even if the Martin Zubimendi interest might have passed.
Slot has already made clear that work is being done ahead of the summer and one of the reasons Liverpool wasn't that active last year was that he wanted to assess what he had first. This time around, incomings are near-guaranteed; the only questions are which positions can be strengthened — which players are available to buy and which existing stars can be moved on to make room.
Arne Slot gets what he needs
Questions about whether Liverpool should have rotated more often this season are legitimate to some extent, though Arne Slot has been unfortunate to face PSG in Europe and then the Carabao Cup final only a few days later. And he has already explained his thought process when it comes to the likes of Federico Chiesa, who haven't really been utilized.
"These players hardly train with the starters if you look at our schedule in the last three or four months," he said in his press conference last Friday. "So if we play, for example, on Saturday and then we play on Tuesday again, then on Sunday, the ones that played on Saturday only do a recovery session, so they’re not on the pitch.
"And then it’s the day before the game and it’s maybe 10, 15 minutes of tactics, where it’s more walking football than playing football. So there’s hardly ever a moment when they can compete with each other."
Come the summer, while there are international fixtures to be taken care of, Slot will — having barely had time all season — finally get onto the training field with his squad on a regular basis. The summer will give him a chance to try a few new things and work with players whose game time has so far been limited, and perhaps in the campaign that follows, Chiesa, Harvey Elliott, and co will be better prepared to come into the side more often.
While the specifics are yet to be determined and the events of the next few weeks will be instructive as to what follows, Slot can use this international break to plot the next phase of his Liverpool evolution. It's set to be exciting.
