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Liverpool’s Carabao Cup Final defeat to Newcastle United highlighted major alarm bells within the current squad, despite the surge for a second Premier League title in five years.

Sunday’s performance at Wembley all but confirmed why supporters have been crying out for fresh faces in recent transfer windows and come the summer, Arne Slot will be allowed to stamp his own authority when tasked on whether key players will remain or be allowed to explore their options elsewhere.

Slot has already made two signings during his first season, with Federico Chiesa arriving last August and Giorgi Mamardashvili’s imminent arrival from Valencia in a few months, but the key area of discussion continues on the side of squad reinforcements and a ‘must need’ for change.

We will be diving further into the current deep-lying problems for Liverpool and assessing the departments that need strengthening before the start of next season.

CONTRACT SITUATIONS LEFT UNRESOLVEDIMAGO/Matt West/ShutterShock.

A lot has been made over the ongoing saga of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah’s contracts.

that are set to expire in three months time.

As it stands, no situation is remotely close to being resolved and the players have been allowed to speak freely to overseas clubs since January, but have given priority to Liverpool.

There have been murmurs of the club only being able to allow for two extensions from a possible three, whilst Trent Alexander-Arnold continues to be connected towards a future Real Madrid move.

Van Dijk has also confirmed that he doesn’t know where he will be playing his football next season.

Liverpool have been known to act fast on contract situations when players get into their final two years, but this hasn’t happened with their current stars.

In recent years, the club have refused to budge on their current wage structure which has led to key members such as Thiago Alcantara, Gini Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino being allowed to leave for free.

It would come as a significantly huge blow if the Reds were to lose all three of their key men for nothing this summer, and will be seen as a form of negligence to allow this scenario to play out.

FULL-BACKS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN

With the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold remaining undecided, an upgrade in the full-back position will be needed regardless.

Andy Robertson has been a great servant on Liverpool’s left-side of defence for almost eight years, but with the Scotsman now 31-years-of-age, a decline has started to appear with consistency levels becoming a problem to maintain.

As for Kostas Tsimikas, the defender has been viewed as Robertson’s understudy since 2020, and his rotational role could lean towards the Greek being moved on this summer, in aid of fresh additions.

Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez has become the most concrete name on Liverpool’s list in their search for a left-back, with Jorrel Hato of Ajax also sounded out as a possible option.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that both left-sided full-backs depart the club this summer, but it will more likely be the case of one in, one-out.

Jeremie Frimpong’s name has appeared more recently as a potential replacement to Alexander-Arnold, but there doesn’t seem to be a concrete name just yet.

FORWARD LINE REFRESHMichael Regan/Getty Images.

Arne Slot will most probably have the toughest decision of his Liverpool tenure so far when assessing his forward options for the future.

Mohamed Salah’s contract is up in the air, but himself and Cody Gakpo should be formalities when looking ahead to next season, with the more uncomfortable questions surrounding the remaining four attackers.

Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Núñez and Federico Chiesa have all had difficult periods under Slot and atleast to are expected to leave Liverpool this summer.

Only in recent weeks, have the Reds’ forward options become a major weakness.

Gone are the days where Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino consistently eased the pressure from Salah and stepped up in his absence, but now the Egyptian is having to be relied upon, more than ever.

Salah has already recorded record-breaking numbers, racking up the most goal contributions for the club in a single Premier League campaign, surpassing Luis Suarez’s record of 42, with nine matches remaining.

He has also moved into third in Liverpool’s all-time goalscoring charts on 243, behind only Sir Roger Hunt and Ian Rush.

But, the Egyptian is only human and can’t have star-studded performances every single week, it is just not sustainable, meaning the forward line needs a huge re-shuffle.

Núñez and Díaz are the two who have been consistently linked with moves away, whilst Diogo Jota’s recent problems have turned into a major problem for the club to weigh up.

Any departures would need replacing with Alexander Isak and Julian Alvarez seen as the preferred successors to whichever number nine departs.

Alexander Isak scored Newcastle’s second goal against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final.

Michael Regan/Getty Images.

As for Diaz, Liverpool were very close to agreeing a swap involving Jarell Quansah with Isak’s teammate at Newcastle, Anthony Gordon last summer, but the Reds pulled out.

Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams and Juventus’s Kenan Yildiz have also been in the conversation.

FRESH LEGS IN MIDFIELD

Liverpool’s midfield has been one of the many reasons for their success this campaign, with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai forming Arne Slot’s ‘perfect’ trio.

Slot has been able to transform Gravenberch into his ideal ‘number-six’, whilst Mac Allister and Szoboszlai are the balls of energy in the middle of the park.

Although, the intensity has seemed to have caught up to each player in recent weeks, whilst having to play more minutes than intended due to Liverpool competing in every competition this season.

This became a sorry sight during Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final loss as the midfield trio were dominated by their opposition, with Arne Slot openly admitting his side were ‘outplayed’ by ‘deserved winners.’

Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott are considered as the rotational options, but the manager has given a combined total of 3,220 minutes to these players, with Ryan Gravenberch alone, playing three-hundred minutes more.

This goes to show how overused Liverpool’s first-choice midfield have been, due to the lack of strength in depth.

The Reds need to dive into the market for a specialist number six, whilst also searching for Slot’s preferred squad options that are of better quality.

Liverpool are the runaway leaders of the Premier League but they are nowhere near the finished article.

Many flaws still remain in the side that has been able to accumulate a total amount of seventy points with nine games left to play.

Back-to-back defeats have only increased the pressure on what can be viewed as a make-or-break summer transfer window for the club, with plenty of unknowns still to be decided.

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