We don't have enough wingers for start of season - Iraola
August 21, 2026 18:01
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has warned the squad is short of natural wingers at the start of the season and said he expects the club to address that before the transfer window closes. He reiterated that he wanted all positions filled by the first day of pre-season on 13 July but must adapt while the market remains open.
The club recently had a £50m offer for Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh turned down and have explored a move for Paris St-Germain’s Ibrahim Mbaye. PSG’s Bradley Barcola is identified internally as Liverpool’s primary wide‑player target.
KEY CONTEXT
- Iraola succeeded Arne Slot as head coach and has already overseen incoming business: Victor Munoz (£34.5m), Ronald Araujo (loan from Barcelona) and Jeremy Jacquet (a deal agreed in January, reported at £60m).
- Several senior players left over the summer – Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate – while Curtis Jones is in Italy amid what the club describes as an ongoing £30m move to Inter Milan (not yet officially confirmed).
- Iraola has previously highlighted squad shortfalls during the pre‑season tour in the USA, and Liverpool’s hierarchy appears to anticipate further activity late in the window.
WHY IT MATTERS
A shortage of specialists on the wing limits tactical options and places pressure on the transfer strategy before September 1, the window deadline. Iraola frames recruitment not as filling numbers but as bringing players who raise the level of the current squad; the outcome of late deals will shape Liverpool’s personnel depth going into competitive fixtures.
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
- Whether Liverpool complete a signing for Bradley Barcola, pursue other wide‑player targets, or revisit the Minteh approach.
- The final status of Curtis Jones’s reported move to Inter — Liverpool describe it as ongoing and it has not been made official.
- Liverpool’s transfer business by the close of the window on 1 September, which Iraola called “the important picture.”
KEY FACTS
- Liverpool had a £50m offer for Yankuba Minteh rejected.
- The club has explored a move for Ibrahim Mbaye; Bradley Barcola is their principal wide‑player target.
- New signings: Victor Munoz (£34.5m) and Ronald Araujo (loan); Jeremy Jacquet’s transfer was agreed in January (reported £60m).
- Departures this summer include Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate.
- Curtis Jones is in Italy amid a reported £30m move to Inter Milan that Liverpool say is ongoing but not yet official.
- Iraola said he wanted all positions doubled with top‑level players by 13 July but acknowledged the need to adapt while the market is open.