After romping to the Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first campaign during the 2024/25 season, a £446million summer spending spree had Liverpool fans believing they were well placed to run it back.
Fast forward to the end of the season, and the Reds’ woeful title defence saw them finish in fifth place, 25 points adrift of champions Arsenal, as Slot paid the price by losing his job.
Former Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola is the new man in charge and he will be hoping that after a season of settling in, the club’s 2025 recruits will make a bigger impact this season.
Owen on Liverpool’s 2025 signings
Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen believes that last summer’s new faces can make an impact.
“I’m still excited by those signings,” Owen tells FourFourTwo. “Although they appear to have been disappointing, it’s hard to analyse whether that’s been because of quality, tactics or injuries.”
Liverpool broke the £100million mark twice last summer in their purchases of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, while Hugo Ekitike was a £69million signing and Owen is confident that trio can all prove their quality in a Liverpool shirt.
“I was thrilled when they bought Florian Wirtz, and I was thrilled when they bought Alexander Isak,” he continues. “I didn’t know much about Hugo Ekitike, but he turned out to be probably the best of the three last season.
“Isak missed his pre-season, struggled a bit when he came in – when he was then starting to show a bit, and actually scored a goal or two, he got injured.
“Then Ekitike got a horrific Achilles injury, an absolute nightmare, and I can’t imagine he’s going to be back too long before Christmas. But no-one can say Wirtz is not a great player, or Isak, or Ekitike.
Liverpool’s 2025 defensive recruits arrived on somewhat more modest fees and Owen still believes there are questions to be asked of the likes of Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong.
“I must admit, I thought Milos Kerkez was a very good signing,” he continues. “But now I’m not thinking that, and I don’t know what Jeremie Frimpong is.
“He’s not really a right-back, but he’s good to have in the squad – you can play him as a right-sided attacker, or you can probably get away with him playing at right-back against a lesser team.
“He also picked up a lot of injuries, but in many ways, the positives now are the negatives from last term – the amount of injuries we sustained, and the fact that many of those players will hopefully be available again now. That will be a big boost to the manager. There are still some seriously talented footballers in the squad. It’s just a question of getting them all playing well together.”
