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The Athletic’s James Pearce has provided an update as to why the transfer window has been slow for Liverpool this summer.

On Friday, June 14, in line with the opening of the European Championships, the Premier League and English Football League (EFL) formally opened the summer 2024 transfer market.

In order to maintain synchronization with other major European leagues, including Germany, Italy, Spain, and France, the window will conclude on Friday, August 30, at 11 p.m.

UK time.

However, in more than two weeks since the window opened, there has been very little indication that Liverpool is actually making significant moves in the market.

By this time last year, Dominik Szoboszlai was on the brink of being announced on July 2nd 2023, while Alexis Mac Allister had already signed and delivered to the Anfield club.

Granted, the Reds had more work to do to the squad last summer compared to this one, but it is still slightly odd.

While there will always be stories in the media, it seems Liverpool and other clubs are easing into the window.

However, many Liverpool fans believe that is some urgent work to be done on the squad if the Reds are to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal next season,

Despite the existing quality in the squad and the improvements in the league last season, it would be wise to equip Arne Slot with the best possible tools to compete at the top end of the table in 2024/25.

And now James Pearce has provided his take on the situation.

What did James Pearce say about Liverpool and the transfer window?

James Pearce, writing for the Athletic, has provided two main reasons: one being that the ‘landscape’ and needs of Liverpool are very different than what they were 12 months ago, and secondly being that Arne Slot still needs his opportunity to assess the squad in pre-season ahead of 2024/25.

In terms of the landscape that Liverpool find themselves in, they finished third last season with a marked improvement from the 2022/23 campaign.

At the time, the departures of James Milner, Naby Keita, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, together with the concerning decline in Jordan Henderson and Fabinho’s production, made Liverpool’s need for midfield reinforcements obvious.

Later in July, when both Henderson and Fabinho were lured to Saudi Arabia by the lucrative offers, the magnitude of the midfield reconstruction that faced Klopp increased dramatically and resulted in the acquisitions of Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch.

Pearce suggests that the current crop of Liverpool players needs some fine tuning as opposed to the rework that was last summer.

In terms of Arne Slot needing to assess the squad, Copa America and Euro 2024 came at a bad time for Liverpool.

Pearce notes:

“There’s the added factor of Slot wanting to assess the merits of those he has inherited before making final decisions about where each of them stands in terms of his plans for the campaign ahead.”

“The Dutchman has pored over footage of countless matches and training sessions since taking over from Klopp, but nothing beats seeing a player up close and getting to know them.”

“With so many star names away, the early weeks of pre-season will provide a golden opportunity for the club’s talented crop of youngsters to show Slot what they are capable of.

There are seats to be secured on the plane to Pittsburgh on July 23 for the start of Liverpool’s pre-season tour of America?

It’s a clean slate for everyone.”

We have already examined which Liverpool players could miss the start of pre-season, with some in line to only link up with the Liverpool squad in mid July – two weeks after the start of pre-season.

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