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After storming to the Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first season in charge in 2024/25, Liverpool supporters felt the club were in a strong position to defend the crown after a summer outlay of £446million.

By the end of the campaign, however, the Reds’ miserable title defence had seen them drop to fifth place, finishing 25 points behind champions Arsenal, with Slot ultimately losing his job.

Former Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has now taken over and will be aiming for Liverpool’s 2025 arrivals to make a far greater impression this season after what was effectively a year of adjustment.

Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen believes the players brought in last summer are still capable of making their mark.

“I’m still excited by those signings,” Owen told FourFourTwo. “Although they seem to have disappointed, it’s difficult to judge whether that has been down to quality, tactics or injuries.”

Liverpool went beyond the £100million mark twice last summer when they signed Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, while Hugo Ekitike arrived for £69million. Owen is convinced all three have the ability to show their class in a Liverpool shirt.

“I was thrilled when they bought Florian Wirtz, and I was thrilled when they bought Alexander Isak,” he continued. “I didn’t know much about Hugo Ekitike, but he turned out to be probably the best of the three last season.

“Isak missed his pre-season, struggled a bit when he came in – when he was then starting to show a bit, and actually scored a goal or two, he got injured.

“Then Ekitike got a horrific Achilles injury, an absolute nightmare, and I can’t imagine he’s going to be back too long before Christmas. But no-one can say Wirtz is not a great player, or Isak, or Ekitike.

Liverpool’s 2025 defensive signings came in for relatively lower fees, and Owen still feels there are doubts surrounding players such as Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong.

“I must admit, I thought Milos Kerkez was a very good signing,” he continued. “But now I’m not thinking that, and I don’t know what Jeremie Frimpong is.

“He’s not really a right-back, but he’s good to have in the squad – you can play him as a right-sided attacker, or you can probably get away with him playing at right-back against a lesser team.

“He also picked up a lot of injuries, but in many ways, the positives now are the negatives from last term – the amount of injuries we sustained, and the fact that many of those players will hopefully be available again now. That will be a big boost to the manager. There are still some seriously talented footballers in the squad. It’s just a question of getting them all playing well together.”

Ed McCambridge, Staff Writer