Arne Slot has explained Liverpool’s recruitment strategy as time ticks away in the January transfer window.
The Reds have not acted seriously on the transfer front this month after a heavy summer spree last year, with the Premier League champions spending an estimated £446million - a record for a Premier League side in one window.
They signed two strikers, Hugo Ekitke and Alexander Isak, while also recruiting two new full-backs, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez.
Florian Wirtz was another that came through the Anfield entrance.
Liverpool’s only recruit this month has been young defender Mor Talla Ndiaye, who was signed from Amitie in Senegal.
At his pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Bournemouth this weekend, Slot was asked for his verdict on Kerkez’s improvement since his arrival from the Dorset club.
The Dutchman went broader, outlining the thought process behind the signings that arrived in the summer.
“With a lot of signings we have made, you can see the progression they are making in terms of adjustment to the team and also in terms of power and being able,” Slot explained.
“For Milos, it hasn’t happened much where he is playing at the weekend and in the week. A few times, I’ve played [Andy Robertson] during the week.
“Milos is getting stronger and stronger, playing better and better. He is improving. It’s normal.
“If you look at the age of our signings, they will not only be better in the second half of the season but they will be better the next season, and the season after, and then that season after.
“That is the way this club is run. We sign young players with a lot of room for development, although they are already really good. He’s improving. But not only him. All young players do.
“We have to make sure that the players at the other levels stay at their elite level.”
Many of Slot’s summer signings have taken a while to get going in a Liverpool shirt, with Isak struggling for goals before he suffered a broken leg against Tottenham last month.
Wirtz has begun to find his groove after a slow start, with the German’s attacking output starting to pick up.
Ekitike has been their star arrival, with the Frenchman netting 11 goals in his first 27 games across all competitions.
Frimpong has seen the start of his career on Merseyside blighted by injury, although there is big pressure on the Dutchman to produce after the Reds’ injury blow at right-back, with Conor Bradley sidelined for the rest of the campaign.
Kerkez started shakily but has grown into his role as the club’s first-choice left-back ahead of Andy Robertson.
Asked if fans could expect business of any kind in the remainder of the January window, Slot replied: “I expect [to stick with the current squad till the end of the season], but if there is an opportunity in the market or we think we can strengthen the squad, then this club will always try to do so.
“At this moment in time, I expect it to stay mainly the same.”
Liverpool are currently sat fourth in the Premier League table as they battle for a place in the Champions League next season.
They are well off the pace in the title race, 14 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal, while Manchester United are breathing down their neck in fifth, just one point worse off.
