Liverpool have signed NEW winger | OneFootball

So the transfer window comes to an end, and what did we learn?

Well, that Richard Hughes is actually very good at his job. Players have to force moves through because if you behave like a nice guy you end up like Marc Guehi.

🚨2025/26 LFC x adidas range🚨

LFC x adidas

Shop the away range TODAY

LFC x adidas

Shop the home range today!

LFC x adidas

Shop the goalkeeper range today

LFC x adidas

Shop the new adidas range today!

Ultimately, though much of the takeaways from this summer we can only really gauge properly as the season goes on. Liverpool's business in the window looks fantastic on paper, but we'll only know the extent of how successful the club's recruitment ultimately was in a year or two.

In the immediate future, the exciting new arrivals also give Arne Slot a welcome headache. Last season, he was criticised for not rotating his squad enough - which ultimately probably resulted in Liverpool crashing out of the Champions League.

This time around, Slot has decisions to make in pretty much every department. At right-back, he's now got three options with the emergence of Dominik Szoboszlai.

He could also find a way to fit the Hungarian into a star-studded three man midfield alongside Florian Wirtz, Ryan Gravenberch or one of Curtis Jones or Alexis Mac Allister.

🔴 Shop the LFC 2025/26 adidas away range

The biggest and most intriguing decision for Slot to make is when it comes to Liverpool's attack. Nobody will have envisaged at the start of the summer that Liverpool would sign both Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike.

It always seemed like it was one or the other but ultimately the club's recruitment team recognised they needed to bring both of them in.

Ekitike is now off to the perfect start in a Liverpool shirt. Cody Gakpo has also started brilliantly on the left-wing. Mo Salah has been a little bit slower compared to the incredible heights he set last season but still very impactful.

So the question begs to be asked: How on earth do you fit Isak into this team?

The easy answer would be to say: Well, there are a lot of matches this season so Slot is just going to rotate his starting eleven.

Obviously, that will be the case. But if Liverpool want to play Ekitike and Isak together, can they?

© IMAGO - Alexander Isak Liverpool

A lot of people seem to think that in the scenario where they do start together it would be the Frenchman dropping to the left-wing.

But it could easily be the other way around. Isak is not actually a stranger to playing on the wing. He's done it at Newcastle, Real Sociedad, the Swedish national team and even at AIK back in his teenager years.

Looking at his Wyscout profile, he's played 1188 minutes as a winger. Most of these minutes have come on the left, but he's also played on the right.

In those games, he's still averaged 0.47 xG, although converted only 0.24 those into actual goals. This underperformance is due to Isak playing a lot of his minutes on the left while at Sociedad, where he did massively underperform his xG numbers prior to arriving at Newcastle.

Nonetheless, while 0.47 xG isn't maybe the highest number when you're looking at forwards, it's still quite a decent return. Gakpo had a 0.38 xG in all competitions for Liverpool last season, and Luis Diaz averaged 0.43 xG per 90.

So, Isak is still providing a goal threat.

At the same time, he's also making an impact on the ball. Impressively, he averaged 7.9 dribbles per 90 minutes while playing on the wing in his career and succeeded in 50% of his attempts.

That's 3.95 successful dribbles per 90 minutes.

Again, if we compare this to Liverpool's wingers last season, Gakpo averaged 1.46 successful dribbles and Diaz 2.17.

With Isak on the wings based on his previous performances, Liverpool would still have a very direct presence, who can beat opponents and open up spaces for his teammates around him.

But can he create chances and link-up with his teammates?

Well, he averaged 3.4 passes into the penalty area in the role. Last season, Mohamed Salah averaged the most for Liverpool and he managed 2.52 passes into the penalty area.

In general, just watching him play on the wings, Isak definitely has the ability to be a threat in the final third.

It's also important to note that he has a lot more experience playing as a winger in comparison to Ekitike, who has just over 600 minutes playing on the left and right-wing.

So, ultimately there's a good chance we will see Isak playing on the wing for Liverpool. Obviously, he'll start a lot of games as a no.9 but don't be surprised to see him playing games on the left or the right-wing.

Liverpool's attack is going to be a lot more fluid with him in the side. It's also entirely possible, Isak and Ekitike take on hybrid roles when playing together and rotate with each other.

The prospect of that is exciting. It makes Liverpool unpredictable, which is exactly what you want your attack to be as a coach.