Slot was right about Liverpool - but now faces biggest challenge Klopp left

Arne Slot was right about Liverpool squad - but now faces biggest challenge Jurgen Klopp left behind

The January transfer window is looming on the horizon but the best business Liverpool could do this winter is retain the services of their current stars argues Theo Squires in this week's Blood Red column

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Arne Slot will have few complaints about his Liverpool reign so far with his team top of both the Premier League and Champions League tables - as well as through to the League Cup quarter-finals. Winning 15 of his 17 matches heading into the November international break, few would have predicted such a start to the post-Jurgen Klopp era.

The fact that Slot has overseen such a run with the inherited squad that fell short under Klopp last season is even more impressive. Federico Chiesa was Liverpool’s only summer signing, but he has been limited to just 78 minutes of action because of injury.

Slot repeatedly defended the Reds’ limited incoming business ahead of the season, insisting he had inherited a really strong squad.

Such a claim might have prompted raised eyebrows, but the Dutchman’s faith in his ranks has been emphatically rewarded.

Yet with the January transfer window now on the horizon, Liverpool’s eye-catching form will unlikely be enough to silence the transfer-hungry hordes.

After all, this week alone, we have already seen Reds legend Jamie Carragher urge his former club to ‘make it count’ and bring in at least one new signing in January by making a fresh bid for Martin Zubimendi.

Admittedly, it would be a surprise if Liverpool strengthened further in January. Historically, the Reds’ business has always tended to be limited mid-season. And if Slot had faith in his current ranks ahead of the campaign, he will have seen little to alter such a stance.

However, that has done little to prevent transfer speculation hovering overhead of his Liverpool squad with a number of players the subject of uncertainty.

Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold all remain out of contract next summer, and will be free to agree pre-contract agreements with overseas clubs in just 46 days on January 1.

The latter is the one most heavily linked with the exit door amid long-standing interest from Real Madrid. But none of the trio will be walking away from the Reds mid-season.

Regardless of whether they are navigating their final seasons as Liverpool stars or not, all three know they are as close to guaranteed starters as you can be at Anfield.

But there is still uncertainty around a number of their team-mates, who will no doubt find themselves the subject of further speculation in the weeks and months ahead.

Chiesa is continually being linked with a return to Serie A, with reports in Italy suggesting his agent has gone as far as to offer his services on loan to AS Roma and Inter Milan, while Wataru Endo was linked with a switch to Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this week after seeing Marseille have a bid rejected last summer.

Elsewhere, Caoimhin Kelleher’s desire to be a first-choice goalkeeper is well-documented after he saw efforts to move on blocked last summer. He is on the record insisting he is not thinking about his future currently, while standing in for the injured Alisson Becker.

Yet it would be a surprise if the Reds’ retained his services as their back-up goalkeeper for much longer - especially ahead of Giorgi Mamardashvili’s arrival from Valencia next year.

The Georgia international perhaps also presents small questions about Alisson’s long-term future at Anfield, while it would be a surprise if Vitezslav Jaros, in a similar position to Kelleher, was content being a third-choice at Anfield for long.

Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton both flirted with exits last summer, as the former saw a switch to Newcastle United collapse and the latter was denied a loan move to Bayer Leverkusen. Neither have played as much as they would have liked so far this season, with the same also true of Jarell Quansah.

Andy Robertson is currently out of contract in 2026, with Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold’s own expiring statuses overshadowing such a fact. But with the 30-year-old now finding himself sharing his position with Kostas Tsimikas, there is a conversation to be had about his future sooner rather than later. The resolution to that left-back debate will likely also have a knock-on effect for the Greek.

Meanwhile, Luis Diaz’s current form might have emphatically silenced any doubts about his future, but it could easily prompt concrete interest after repeatedly being linked with an exit last season. And then there are the inevitable question marks against Darwin Nunez’s name that will seemingly never be silenced, no matter what he does on the pitch.

Before anyone gets carried away, you will see no suggestion of a Liverpool fire-sale here. Especially not in January. But with a number of the aforementioned names not playing as much as they would like, it is a reminder of the test facing Slot and his man-management skills to keep his entire squad happy. Especially when it is something Klopp managed so well.

Results overwrite any such dilemmas for now. Carragher might argue that the Reds need to ‘make it count’ in January, given their current favourable positions, but Slot’s squad will sense the same.

Even if on the fringes, why leave in mid-season when there is a possibility that Liverpool could go on to enjoy a special campaign? Few clubs will find themselves in a stronger position than the Reds when it comes to challenging for silverware this season, with Slot’s ranks already well aware of the rare opportunities that could be about to present themselves. It is surely something they will all be hungry to be part of.

Some of his players have not started or played as much as they would have liked, but Liverpool will still need them all.

Since the October international break, Slot has rotated more with the likes of Robertson and Tsimikas and Diaz and Cody Gakpo sharing their minutes more.

In an intense run of fixtures, the Reds took to the field seven times in 20 days as they hosted Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion, Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa, and travelled to RB Leipzig, Arsenal and Brighton In truth, Liverpool were expected to slip up. Yet they went unbeaten, winning six of those matches.

After the November international break, an even more strenuous run awaits where they will play 12 times in 42 days and lock horns with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

When such a run comes to an end, the January transfer window will be open. The Reds’ Premier League campaign will be past the halfway point with 20 games played, they could have secured qualification to the Champions League knockout stages - if not at least a play-off place - will know their FA Cup third-round opponents and know if they have a League Cup semi-final to look forward to.

As promising as Liverpool’s campaign has been so far, the real test is waiting around the corner. Contending with the unwanted distraction of growing transfer speculation, will they stick or twist?

If any Reds do push to depart in January, perhaps then new signings would be sought after more. But by such a point Liverpool will have a much better idea of the hand.

Sure, reinforcements could bolster their chances. But the best piece of business they could do this winter is retaining the services of the stars already at their disposal.

They already boast a strong squad with plenty of depth, as Slot has repeatedly insisted and is currently serving them so well. The bigger challenge will be continuing to keep it happy and keep it together.

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