Anfield Watch
·26 December 2025
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·26 December 2025
Liverpool conducted a record-breaking transfer campaign last summer.
In an effort to improve the 2024/25 Premier League title-winning squad, sporting director Richard Hughes was prepared to part with £450m on new players.
In came Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz on British record deals - and several other players were added to the ranks too. It’s fair to say the transfer spending spree so far looks hit and miss - with many of the new players struggling either for form or fitness.
Here we assess the impact of the new signings from last summer’s transfer assault.
One of THREE goalkeepers signed by Liverpool last summer, Hungarian shot-stopper Pecsi looks like one for the future. The 20-year-old has managed two appearances on the bench for the first team but his minutes have come in Premier League 2.
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However his form there hasn’t been the greatest and he will likely require a loan spell away from base at some stage.
Liverpool won the race for the highly-prized 17-year-old ahead of Arsenal. The former Salford forward went straight into Liverpool’s Premier League 2 squad - and is regarded as one of the coming talents in English football.
We will have to wait in order to truly assess his impact however as injury has hampered his time at the club thus far.
The 28-year-old goalkeeper was a useful free transfer pickup from Preston over the summer. So far he’s been restricted to one first-team appearance - which was a disastrous 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup.
Still he is a solid third choice behind Alisson Becker and Giorgi Mamardashvili.
It’s harsh on Leoni that he is so far down the list - but we can all be encouraged that he will be a firm first-team favourite in the years ahead. The 18-year-old came to Anfield as one of the highest-rated young centre-backs in the world.
He cost £26m but an ACL tear on debut has scuppered his chances of success in his maiden season. He will require patience and in time he should develop nicely.
So much more was expected of Isak following his £125m arrival from Newcastle. He hasn’t looked quite fit during his time on the field for Liverpool and is being outshone in front of goal by Hugo Ekitike.
He really needs to improve his output and sharpen up - otherwise he risks being written off as a very expensive flop. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen and he can soon find his best form.
This is another transfer that initially looked like a slam dunk but hasn’t quite worked out so far.
Kerkez, 22, has been preferred to Andy Robertson for the most part but has not yet provided a clear improvement on the Scotsman.
The £40m arrival from Bournemouth is supposed to be Liverpool’s starting left-back for the next decade but the jury remains out on a player who doesn’t look like the Bournemouth version right now.
Frimpong was an attractive target owing to his low price of £29.5m - and his versatility. Capable of playing right-back, right midfield and right wing, the Dutchman can be a real problem solver for Arne Slot.
No doubt the 25-year-old will end being a very smart acquisition by Richard Hughes in time but he’s been unlucky in an injury sense up to now.
He started well with a goal in the Community Shield but we are still waiting to see the former Leverkusen star at his marauding best.
The goalkeeper is going to be primed as a long-term alternative to Alisson Becker and has already had a run in the first team owing to the Brazilian’s injury.
It would be generous to say the Georgian has fared anything other than “ok” to this point however. The 25-year-old has only been on the winning side once in five Premier League outings and hasn’t won over all the fans as yet. He is another with a lot of work to do to match the standards set by his predecessor.
That £116m price tag is weighing heavily on Florian Wirtz - whose goal and assist record should really be better by now. In his defence he has walked into a Liverpool team in transition and has been unable as yet to carve out a distinct identity for himself.
Arne Slot has used him in many different positions - and the German has been unable to nail down any kind of consistency in that No10 position.
There have been flashes of brilliance from the former Leverkusen standout - but for that kind of money we shouldn’t be looking for hints of his talent - it should be self-evident at this stage.
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The £69m striker is STREETS ahead of any of the other new arrivals. He carried the fight up front earlier in the season when Isak was unfit and has stepped up again in recent weeks during the Mo Salah furore.
Liverpool’s insistence on having the Frenchman on board last summer now appears to be a rare transfer win. Ekitike has forced himself ahead of Isak in the pecking order - and is the only new signing out-performing those who left in the last transfer period.
He is going to be France’s No1 striker very soon - and £69m will look like a bargain.









































