Richard Hughes' transfer priority is clear after Florian Wirtz FINALLY joins | OneFootball

Liverpool are currently engaged in two deals to follow Jeremie Frimpong's move to Anfield, but where will the club's attention go next with at least two months left of the summer still to go?

Once everything is completed - negotiations, contract signing, medicals, media work and then the formal unveiling - the Reds will look to further enhance their squad for Arne Slot to use next season.

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Many fans are hoping for a striker given it's the major weakness in our attack, even though Liverpool scored 14 more goals than any other team in their Premier League winning campaign last season.

However, a far more pressing issue is in need of resolution and it has the potential to derail all of the club's good work this summer if the recruitment team fails to attend to it imminently.

© IMAGO - Arne Slot Slotpocalypse

The potential stumbling block for Liverpool's summer

While Frimpong and likely Milos Kerkez will join the Reds' defensive unit, a centre-back is required.

Joel Matip's departure in 2024 signified that a replacement was necessary - something Liverpool ignored that summer - and the reliance on Ibrahima Konate has made the hole even more obvious.

Of course, during the 2023/24 season, we managed to break Jarrel Quansah into the team, so the Cameroon international's ACL injury was felt less than we all expected, but since the Englishman failed to step up to a more involved role, Arne Slot was been forced to take drastic action.

Konate played a whopping 3372 minutes last season, while Quansah played just 1297 in comparison.

The Frenchman's injury threatened to derail the title win, but fortunately the team managed to prevail despite his absence for a month. But luck with injuries is never something you should actively rely on.

The pair are now linked with potential moves away, with Quansah unhappy with his playing time and Konate feeling unconvinced by Liverpool's contract offers when his deal is set to expire in 2026.

A ticking time bomb is well and truly in play right now, and Liverpool simply must resolve it. The only players guaranteed to be here next season are Virgil Van Dijk - who renewed his deal until 2027 - and Joe Gomez who has spent more time injured this season than available.

The solution? At least one new centre-back needs to be brought in, even if none of the current defenders actually end up leaving this summer. If one does go, then they'll also need replacing.

Having three reliable defenders and Quansah who is still learning his trade is a far more promising situation for a potential title defence campaign, than the risk-inducing one we're operating with.

Be it Jorrel Hato, Allessandro Bastoni, Marc Guehi, Jarrad Branthwaite, or someone else, there are a whole host of different options available on the market. Spend what is necessary to get your target.

And while people might not like what I'm about to say, we should sacrifice signing a new striker if it means that the defence is in a more stable condition as a result. We need a secure back-line, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. We're at risk of being a dangerously over-attacking team.

Frimpong and Kerkez are both attacking full-backs and while they each have defensive attributes we can use, a solid centre-back pairing will need to cover them and depth is needed to facilitate that.

Moreover, we are potentially days away from signing Florian Wirtz, who is one of the best creative midfielders available on the market, who will revolutionise how the attackers work under Arne Slot.

Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota - the strikers we all want to replace because they aren't prolific in front of goal - will have a new player feeding passes into them, which will undoubtedly change things.

Of course, a new striker and a new centre-back are in my ideal plans for the remainder of the summer, but if it's an either-or situation, then the club's priority is clear - a centre-back over a striker.