Liverpool must recruit this summer: Salah return, £116m Wirtz, Thomas Frank shock
Liverpool summer – Misryoum dissects Liverpool’s summer priorities after Everton and looks at Mo Salah’s upturn, Florian Wirtz’s progress, and why Thomas Frank at Fulham is a real possibility.
Liverpool’s season may be sliding, but there are still clear signals of what comes next—starting with Mo Salah finding his rhythm again.
Salah’s return to form has felt like a lift for a squad that has struggled to make its mind up all season.. Against Everton. after coming off the bench for Liverpool against PSG last week. the Egyptian showed the energy and belief of a forward who has stopped running on fumes.. It wasn’t a full transformation. but it was enough to suggest that the weight of uncertainty—both footballing and personal—has eased at least temporarily.. For Misryoum. the key point is what comes after the headlines: when a talisman like Salah starts to look like himself again. it changes how quickly a team can rebuild around him. instead of merely surviving the present.
That, unfortunately, is still where Liverpool are.. With question marks over multiple areas. Misryoum’s view is that the summer can’t be another tidy reshuffle—it needs a real mini-rebuild.. At minimum. Liverpool look short in three broad zones that will decide whether they can compete consistently next year: another wide attacking option to refresh the threat. a central defender who can take pressure off an ageing backbone. and cover at right-back to prevent injuries from dictating the lineup.
The central defence issue is the most urgent. and it’s not just about names—it’s about what the season has demanded from the players already there.. Virgil van Dijk has started every Premier League match this term and Ibrahima Konate has missed only two. which tells its own story.. When you ask two centre-backs to carry that load, you risk them becoming liabilities as the margins shrink.. Misryoum also flagged the knock-on effect: the squad has looked stretched at times. and in those moments defending doesn’t just fail—it looks like it’s failing in slow motion.. Everton’s equaliser yesterday underlined how quickly stability can disappear when the structure is forced to improvise.
Right-back is a parallel headache, even with talent present.. Conor Bradley is widely seen as one of Liverpool’s brightest young prospects. yet injuries have limited his ability to establish himself.. At 22 he’s still chasing rhythm. and the numbers—such as 29 league starts at his age—reflect a career that has been repeatedly interrupted.. Last summer’s signing in this area also complicated things: Jeremie Frimpong was overlooked yesterday as Curtis Jones was used there. and Jones delivered a performance that will make any technical staff wonder what “plan A” should actually be going forward.
Goalkeeping sits in the background of the rebuild but it won’t stay there for long.. Alisson is 33 and increasingly injury-prone, which means Liverpool have to think in terms of reliability, not nostalgia.. Giorgi Mamardashvili has been improving. but Misryoum’s editorial take is that Liverpool’s aspirations require an elite-level keeper. not a promising one who is still catching up to the very top clubs’ standards.. If Liverpool want the next project to feel different, the goalkeeper decision has to be made with certainty, not hope.
Liverpool’s summer budgeting also matters to how realistic these moves are.. If they qualify strongly again in Europe. Misryoum expects the club could bank around £100m for that return. and it would be an expensive mistake to treat that influx as money to “spend somewhere”.. It should go to the exact positions that keep breaking the team’s balance—especially when the current season has shown how costly defensive fragility can be.
WIRTZ’S QUALITY STARTING TO SHOW
The most encouraging technical thread in Liverpool’s weekend narrative may be the improvement around Florian Wirtz.. The German was central to the derby even if Liverpool’s wider struggles sometimes swallow the details of what he’s actually doing.. He’s been steadily getting sharper. and in Misryoum’s reading his development feels like the kind that arrives when a player is no longer trying to force impact before the team is ready.. That context matters for how Liverpool evaluate next season. because a creative engine like Wirtz can make recruitment decisions feel smarter—supporting a system rather than patching weaknesses.
It’s also a reminder that last summer’s big-money bets can take time to land.. Alexander Isak endured a tough day against Everton and the Swede’s lack of match sharpness has been a recurring theme.. Misryoum doesn’t dismiss the investment. but it does underline the reality: when a club spends heavily. it must keep building the environment that allows those players to contribute naturally. rather than forcing them to compensate for structural problems.
THE SURPRISE CLUB MOVES: THOMAS FRANK TO FULHAM?
Beyond Anfield. Misryoum’s attention is drawn to the wider Premier League coaching market. where the name Thomas Frank keeps resurfacing at the moments it shouldn’t.. Fulham still have no clear movement on Marco Silva’s contract. and the juxtaposition of Frank watching Brentford against Fulham ended in a frustrating 0-0.. On paper it’s just a match.. In practice. it’s a reminder of how quickly “next job” conversations can become “this is happening.” If Fulham decide they want a different style and a cleaner management fit. Frank looks like one of the few candidates who can be described as both experienced and tactically coherent.
That potential shift would be significant because it also changes what clubs do in their own planning.. Fulham have looked like an established Premier League outfit. but Misryoum sees signs of plateau: finishes around the middle band of the table suggest the team can stay safe. yet doesn’t quite look like it’s building toward something bigger.. Frank. with his reputation for structured attacking setups and pragmatic adaptability. could be the sort of appointment that turns mid-table stability into momentum.
There are other storylines feeding into this week’s larger football conversation. including Liverpool’s wider staffing decisions. the continuing spotlight on top forwards in a league that rewards clarity and execution. and the way pressure exposes squads that don’t have enough dependable senior depth.. But for Misryoum. Liverpool’s summer is the central question: can the club plug the exact holes—wide threat. central defence. right-back. and potentially goalkeeper—and still give Wirtz. and Salah at the right moment. a platform that doesn’t collapse under pressure?
If the answer is yes, then the season doesn’t have to end as a disaster; it can become the beginning of a rebuild that finally feels intentional.
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