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Andoni Iraola appears to have a clear, low-cost answer to Liverpool’s structural issues this season — and it would not require the club to spend a single penny.

At the beginning of the summer, most Liverpool fans and observers would have pointed to three main areas in the squad that needed attention in the transfer market.

The most obvious was a winger capable of properly replacing Mohamed Salah. By signing Bradley Barcola, Liverpool have addressed that need, although on the opposite flank.

It could also be argued, however, that Barcola is really the replacement for Luis Diaz, who had left the previous year.

The other two positions many supporters would have expected Liverpool to strengthen were also linked to the failure to replace other major departures.

Fabinho left Liverpool three years ago, yet his midfield role as a defence-first player still has not truly been filled.

Then there is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who departed a year ago, and however much effort he puts in, Jeremie Frimpong is simply not a replacement for him — or even a genuine right-back.

Even so, Liverpool have gone through the summer looking as though they had little intention of adding either a midfielder or a right-back, despite the obvious need for both.

Arguably, right-back is the bigger problem, although both full-back positions are a serious concern, and that was underlined in the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest — Andoni Iraola’s first home game in charge.

Frimpong and Milos Kerkez were both taken off in the 72nd minute, with Liverpool trailing 2-1 at that stage.

There may have been several reasons for what followed — not least youngster Trey Nyoni’s impressive midfield cameo — but Liverpool undoubtedly produced their best 20-minute spell of the match from that point, and the change at full-back was certainly part of it.

Dominik Szoboszlai, as happened regularly last season, shifted to right-back and immediately gave Liverpool someone who could actually deliver a cross, while also offering more defensive strength than the player he had replaced.

The Hungary international may not especially enjoy playing there, but Iraola could do much worse than revisit the sort of conversation Jurgen Klopp had with James Milner in 2016 when he explained that he wanted the midfielder to operate as his left-back for the coming season.

A year later, Milner described what he had learned in that new role: “But at times you have to curb that and adapt to the match situation and maybe sometimes hold back a bit if the time of the game suits that. I think sensing danger early is the biggest thing to learn. When you play in midfield you’re obviously always switched on to defending.”

Those comments about “sensing danger early” feel especially relevant now, because Iraola’s pre-Nottingham Forest press conference carried a very similar theme when he spoke about his midfield needing better balance after being exposed twice by Newcastle in the opening fixture.

“There are players that are very good, they’re smelling, ‘OK, there is real danger, I can’t take the risk of going (forward),” explained Iraola. “Now I think I have to stay’. “Recognising those situations is the job we have to do now.”

A full season at right-back could therefore help Szoboszlai improve that side of his game and, in the longer term, make him an even better midfielder. That is the message Iraola should be giving him if he wants Liverpool’s No. 8 to fully embrace the role.

Would Szoboszlai enjoy it? Probably not. But the issue is what serves the team best, as Milner put it neatly: “It’s about whatever’s best for the team and ultimately I just want to be out there playing games, contributing and helping this football club.”

And if Szoboszlai hopes to become Liverpool captain once Virgil van Dijk moves on, then a selfless campaign at right-back would demonstrate that he puts the side first, while also giving him a broader understanding of the team and its overall patterns of play.

For Liverpool, the benefit would be a far more dependable option on the right — one capable of producing crosses like the one Szoboszlai delivered for Alexander Isak against Forest, which the £125 million man was unable to finish.

Against Forest, no Liverpool player had more touches, created more chances or completed more accurate crosses than Szoboszlai.

He produced three statistically recorded accurate crosses, while Frimpong and Kerkez managed none between them. The pair attempted six in total, and not one reached its target. It had been much the same against Newcastle the previous week.

Of course, crossing statistics are far from perfect. A player can send in an excellent ball, but if the forward fails to get on the end of it, it still goes down as an unsuccessful cross.

Even so, the eye test makes it clear that Szoboszlai’s delivery was significantly better than Frimpong’s against Forest. There is little room for debate on that point.

He can also drift inside more often to help create overloads in midfield, again in a way that is more similar to what Alexander-Arnold used to do.

Liverpool’s focus this summer on signing attacking wingers for Iraola has left the right-back and midfield positions neglected, but moving Szoboszlai there would, at least for now, solve both issues.

If Iraola is truly committed to getting the maximum out of his squad, and if Szoboszlai is equally committed to being a team-first player, then it is a change that could make a major difference for Liverpool this season.