Liverpool have completed all of their incoming transfer business for this summer and are now expected to wait 12 months before trying to sign the highly-rated Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund.
The Reds made one of the signings of the summer by landing Benfica forward Darwin Nunez while also securing deals for exciting prospects Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay.
Outgoings are still expected at the club, with Sadio Mane edging towards a switch to Bayern Munich, however the club may now opt to keep fringe players such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita.
Both only have 12 months left of their current contracts. Keita had a strong campaign and may yet still be offered an extension, though it’s unlikely one will be forthcoming for Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The 28-year-old could act as a stop-gap in the squad though before a formal move is made for Bellingham next summer.
Bellingham’s potential arrival next season could coincide with a form of evolution at Liverpool. For much of his time in charge at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp has utilised a 4-3-3 formation. The bulk of Liverpool’s recruitment in recent years has centred around buying players who are well suited to this formation. However, other more recent purchases hint that change may be on the horizon.
Nunez, for example, can be labelled as a traditional number nine, which is unlike Roberto Firmino - who may wear No.9 but plays as a No.10. The club also signed Carvalho who has predominantly thrived as an out-and-out ten, there’s no such place for one of them in a 4-3-3.
These moves do therefore hint that a change may be in the offing, with a 4-2-3-1 looking likely based on the new profiles at the club, and given it’s a formation Klopp regularly used early in his Liverpool career.
It’s unlikely Klopp will turn to the same immediately in this coming season, instead he will probably allow new faces time to adapt and bed in. However, we may see him start to experiment with the set-up more and more as the campaign goes on.
If the long-term ambition is to adopt this approach, then Bellingham will almost certainly have a significant role to play within it. The England international’s ability and versatility means he could play a role anywhere in the midfield.
Within a 4-3-3, which will most likely remain in some form at Liverpool, he probably takes on a number eight role, supported by two more defence-orientated midfielders and given the freedom to roam both with and without the ball, as that’s when he’s at his best.
For Dortmund though, he has successfully played within a double pivot, and also as a number ten.
And it’s possible at Liverpool he’d float between the two, depending on what the Reds needed from him at the time. The way he could do so seamlessly is one of the biggest attractions to the 18-year-old. And he's only going to get better after another year of development at Dortmund.
With the aforementioned Oxlade-Chamblain likely to leave next year, possibly with Keita and James Milner - who signed a one-year extension earlier this month - going with him, then reinforcements will be needed.
Liverpool realistically won’t be able to sign three new players in that position, though if they sign Bellingham, it won’t matter. Klopp and his staff will know he's got a very high ceiling and a skill set that could see him fill the void left by all three of those departing Liverpool stars.
