Ranking Arne Slot’s first nine signings for Liverpool compared to Jurgen Klopp’s | OneFootball

Not many of the players Liverpool have signed since Arne Slot became their head coach have hit the ground running, but what have their fortunes been like compared to the previous era with Jurgen Klopp as manager?

After a fairly quiet first summer transfer window since the appointment of Slot in 2024, things went BOOM for Liverpool after their Premier League title triumph and they made 2025 the single biggest-spending summer by any Premier League side of all time. But there have been major question marks on the returns from their recent additions so far.

Slot will be working out how to get the best out of his new assets after an approach to the transfer window that dwarfed the scale of business Klopp was used to seeing.

That’s not to say Liverpool didn’t back Klopp; they broke their transfer record on a few occasions during his reign. A look at his first Liverpool lineup compared to his last would indicate how they built up a better squad over time.

But did they get it right straight away? Or were there some similar stories from their early business with Michael Edwards providing players for Klopp as there are with what Richard Hughes has secured for Slot more recently?

With nine first-team signings made since Slot’s appointment so far, we’ve ranked them and compared them to the first nine Liverpool signings from after Klopp taking charge.

Ranking Arne Slot’s first nine Liverpool signings

Hugo Ekitike

The most convincing of Liverpool’s summer signings so far has been Ekitike, who scored in his first three consecutive appearances for the club since his move from Eintracht Frankfurt.

His goals have been more spread out since, but the striker has impressed with other aspects of his play and remains the Reds’ top scorer across all competitions this season as at the time of the November international break.

Federico Chiesa

The only immediate addition to the squad Slot inherited for his first season, Chiesa has had extremely limited opportunities to start games in the Premier League since his move from Juventus.

He has, though, made an impression with his energy and impetus from the bench, becoming something of a fan favourite. Besides, Liverpool picked him up for a decent price for a player of his quality in the first place.

Giorgi Mamardashvili

Mamardashvili has recently stepped up to the plate during Alisson’s absence, a year after his move from Valencia was arranged in advance.

The Georgian goalkeeper will be hoping to establish himself as a worthy successor to Alisson, but may have to be patient once the regular goalkeeper returns.

Giovanni Leoni

Leoni received positive reviews for his Liverpool debut against Southampton, but won’t be able to build from that first impression for a long time due to an ACL injury.

The centre-back will hope he can rediscover his potential in the future, but for now, Liverpool only have one piece of evidence of how he might be able to play for them.

Alexander Isak

When Liverpool broke their transfer record to sign a striker with a proven track record in the Premier League, there was widespread enthusiasm.

Isak’s only goal so far since his move, though, came in the Carabao Cup. He hasn’t been fit enough recently to begin to justify his huge worth, but will be hoping to in time.

Florian Wirtz

Before Isak, Liverpool broke their transfer record to sign Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, but he’s found the Premier League a tough nut to crack so far.

With no goals or assists in the league to his name yet after 11 appearances, Wirtz is facing a lot of scrutiny right now. His talent may yet shine through, as it has on occasion in the Champions League, but his form has been underwhelming so far.

Jeremie Frimpong

Trent Alexander-Arnold was always going to be a tricky player to replace due to his skillset and Liverpool are yet to gain confidence that they’ve got it right with Frimpong.

Injuries have limited the wing-back’s impact so far, but there have also been questions over whether he’s best suited to a role further forward in the team’s current shape.

Milos Kerkez

Liverpool were fixated with Kerkez as the answer to their search for a long-term successor to Andy Robertson at left-back, but he hasn’t convinced enough yet to make it out with the old and in with the new.

He did recently get his first goal for the club, against Brentford, but has more yellow cards to his name and it looks like the transition from Robertson to Kerkez might not be as immediate as some would have thought.

Freddie Woodman

Woodman was brought in to provide some extra experience in the goalkeeping department this summer, but as no more than third choice after a spell in the Championship with Preston North End.

He conceded three goals on his Liverpool debut against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup.

Ranking Jurgen Klopp’s first nine Liverpool signings

Mohamed Salah

Not just one of the best signings that came to Liverpool during Klopp’s tenure, but one of the best players the Reds have ever had.

The signing of Salah from Roma for an initial £36.9m kickstarted Liverpool’s activity for the summer 2017 transfer window, making him the ninth signing of the Klopp era.

Since then, Salah has scored an incredible 250 goals for the club, a feat only achieved by Ian Rush and Roger Hunt before him.

Sadio Mane

A year before Salah, Liverpool boosted their attacking options with the signing of Mane from Southampton. He also went on to be a major success, recognised as Liverpool’s player of the season by fans and players in his debut season.

Klopp loved what Mane brought to the team and happily fielded him in any of the three attacking positions in his 4-3-3 formation. Mane rewarded him with 120 goals across all competitions during his six-year stay.

Georginio Wijnaldum

Following Newcastle’s relegation from the Premier League in 2016, Liverpool pounced for Wijnaldum and converted him into a key member of their midfield.

Across five seasons, Klopp got the best out of Wijnaldum, who became one of his most trusted players and was never quite the same after leaving Liverpool in 2021.

Joel Matip

The first signing arranged for Klopp’s first summer in charge of Liverpool, Matip was a shrewd addition as a free agent after a spell with Schalke.

Injuries held him back, but Klopp had a lot of time for his compatriot when he was available at centre-back.

Ragnar Klavan

Klavan only spent two seasons with Liverpool, but became something of a cult hero for the fans.

A depth option at centre-back, the Estonian played 53 times after his move from Augsburg.

The first signing of the Klopp era in January 2016, Grujic never got to fulfil his potential at Liverpool, only making eight appearances and spending most of his time under contract out on loan.

The midfielder did eventually score a goal for Liverpool in a Carabao Cup game against Lincoln City in September 2020, but was moved on to Porto shortly after.

Loris Karius

Karius is now forever synonymous with his errors in the 2018 Champions League final, after which he never played for Liverpool again.

The German goalkeeper made 49 appearances in total for Liverpool but was never able to fully establish himself as no. 1 and his journey with the club reached a pitiful conclusion, paving the way for Alisson to come in as an upgrade.

Steven Caulker

One of the most bizarre signings in recent memory for Liverpool, Caulker spent the second half of the 2015-16 season on loan at Anfield.

His minutes were extremely low, but one thing that sticks in the memory is how he was used as an emergency striker rather than in his actual position in defence.

Alex Manninger

Similarly to Woodman, Manninger was never meant to be a candidate for meaningful gametime after becoming a backup goalkeeper for Liverpool in 2016.

In fact, the former Arsenal and Juventus keeper never made his debut for Liverpool and retired after one season with the club.

Which was better?

Obviously, any judgements of the signings from the Klopp era have the benefit of more time to have assessed what impact they had for Liverpool.

Players like Isak, Wirtz and Kerkez haven’t been the best versions of themselves yet, but that’s not to say they won’t.

However, it’s hard to look past the top three from the Klopp ranking as players who became cornerstones of the former manager’s teams – and Matip in fourth wasn’t too shabby either.

Salah, Mane and Wijnaldum all made positive first impressions at Liverpool. Salah got a goal and assist on his debut, Mane scored on his and (in the same game) Wijnaldum got an assist on his.

At the other end of the spectrum, there were four misses among the first nine signings of the Klopp era, with Klavan sitting somewhere in between.

Some of the slow starters under Slot will only need to find a bit of form to surpass the bar set by the likes of Karius and Grujic.

Thus, revisiting this debate in a few months’ time may lead to different answers. But for now, the majority of Liverpool’s recent signings have a battle on their hands to show how they can actually make the team better.