3 transfers Liverpool must make in January after being handed golden title chance

Everyone, Arne Slot included, has been quick to point out that Premier League leaders Liverpool have yet to play many difficult opponents this season. The Reds have not faced a side that is currently above 10 ^th in the table, though that partly says more for Manchester United’s struggles rather than any fortune on the part of Liverpool.

Even so, the Reds have laid a good foundation for a title challenge push, which is all they can have done when the fixture list has been relatively kind. Liverpool potentially has a good opportunity to win a 20 ^th league title too. Does it need to invest in three players in January to push it closer to winning the 2024/25 Premier League ? Circumstances may have presented it with an excellent chance which it cannot afford to pass up.

After all, Rodri will miss the rest of the season for Manchester City , which undoubtedly weakens the four-time defending champion. Arsenal , meanwhile, is having a campaign like the one the Reds endured last term, with early season red cards and late-goal victories. Such struggles tend to catch up with a club eventually, before we get to the Gunners not yet having won a big trophy under Mikel Arteta .

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The counter argument would be that there is depth in the Liverpool squad which has been largely untapped by Arne Slot at this point. The likes of Conor Bradley , Federico Chiesa , Wataru Endo and Joe Gomez made their only starts of 2024/25 in the Carabao Cup, while Curtis Jones only has one on top of being in the XI for the 5-1 win over West Ham .

But it’s also fair to ask if the Liverpool head coach trusts those players enough to start them in critical matches during the run-in. While only he will obviously know the answer to that, the squad remains largely unshaped to his requirements after a quiet summer. Here are three players Liverpool should sign in January to boost its title chances.

Ederson (Atalanta)

Believe it or not, Liverpool might need a defensive midfielder. The performance levels of Ryan Gravenberch suggest otherwise. But as impressive as he has been, he was not the intended solution to a problem which has plagued Liverpool’s transfer strategy for a few years.

The Reds missed out on Aurelien Tchouameni in 2022, then Moises Caicedo (and Romeo Lavia) last year before falling short in the pursuit of Martin Zubimendi in Richard Hughes’ first window at the helm.

Could they go back in for the Real Sociedad man? There’s no harm in asking. A better option might be Atalanta’s midfielder Ederson, who has played alongside Alisson Becker for Brazil. He is FBRef’s top statistical match to Zubimendi , only has two years remaining on his contract after this season and turns 26 next summer so is approaching his peak years.

Mohammed Salisu (Monaco)

Ibrahima Konate has made a phenomenal start to 2024/25. He is outdoing even Virgil van Dijk in terms of aerial duels while he has yet to be dribbled past by an opponent either.

But can his body hold out throughout the whole campaign? Konate has so far played 92.5 per cent of the possible Liverpool minutes this season when his figure was between 43.5 and 49 for his three previous campaigns with the Reds. Slot seems wary of using Gomez or Jarell Quansah, so a deputy should be sought.

A player with a lot of similar statistics is Mohammed Salisu, once of Southampton (so Premier League experienced) but now with Monaco. He too is strong in the air and has been in the top 10 in the big five leagues for interceptions, evidence of his good anticipation. Salisu also matches Konate for progressive passes per 90 minutes over the last 365 days.

Jon Pacheco (Real Sociedad)

Another Konate-like player is Real Sociedad’s Jon Pacheco. However, he is left-footed so plays on the other side of the defense.

As things stand, Liverpool may need a replacement for Virgil van Dijk soon, though. Pacheco has also featured at left-back, including in a Europa League match against PSV Eindhoven in which Cody Gakpo scored.

While it is unlikely Slot would regularly deploy a back three, he did so for the closing stages of the defeat to Nottingham Forest. Having a left-sided defender for such an eventuality would be no bad thing and at 23 years old, Pacheco might become the heir to van Dijk. These suggested transfers may not set the pulse of the Liverpool fanbase racing but they are realistic targets who would address needs which exist at Anfield.