Andoni Iraola has less than a month before his Liverpool reign begins in earnest against Newcastle, and the US preseason tour did him no favours. Two weeks in three American cities produced some encouraging signs — and a stack of problems that will define whether Liverpool are genuine title contenders or also-rans in 2026-27.
The defensive situation alone is alarming. Joe Gomez pulled up with a muscle injury eight minutes into the opening friendly against Sunderland in Nashville and is now sidelined for around a month. New signing Jérémy Jacquet (£60m from Rennes) was kept out of all three games after feeling discomfort in training. Giovanni Leoni is still recovering from an ACL injury. Ibrahima Konaté left for Real Madrid on a free. Conor Bradley is "months" away from returning after a serious knee injury.
That left three teenagers and Jeremie Frimpong — who himself went off precautionarily against Leeds — to cover the centre-back and right-back positions for most of the tour. The kids handled it well. Ifeanyi Ndukwe was particularly impressive. But he's headed out on loan this season because he can't get a work permit yet. You can admire the depth of Liverpool's academy and still recognise that fielding youth players out of necessity rather than choice is not a plan for a club trying to reclaim the title they surrendered to Arsenal last term.
Barcola, Muñoz, and an attack being rebuilt from scratch
Mohamed Salah is gone. Hugo Ekitike won't be back until at least early 2027 after an Achilles injury in April. Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott both had wretched seasons and their futures at Anfield remain unresolved. Liverpool's attack is being constructed almost from scratch, which makes their pursuit of Bradley Barcola feel like an emergency rather than an upgrade.
ESPN sources indicate Liverpool were preparing their first official bid last week, aiming to land the PSG winger for around €115m against a reported PSG valuation of €150m. Barcola wants the move. The gap is the issue. Meanwhile, Víctor Muñoz arrives from Osasuna for €40m having just won the World Cup with Spain, but he's the only attacking addition confirmed so far.
Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz — arguably Liverpool's two most exciting players — only joined the tour in its second week and will need more minutes against Monaco and Como at Anfield before the season starts. Wirtz showed a flash of class with a goal against Leeds. There's obvious quality there. Whether Iraola has enough time to build the combinations he's looking for is another question entirely.
Nyoni shines, Jones's future clouds over
The subplot nobody expected was Trey Nyoni. The 19-year-old midfielder made just two starts all of last season under Arne Slot. In three US games he looked like a player who'd been playing regularly for years — composed, sharp, technically sound. If Liverpool lose Curtis Jones this summer, Nyoni might be part of the reason they decide they can live with it.
Jones, for his part, generated the tour's most uncomfortable moment when he visibly clashed with Dominik Szoboszlai and Kostas Tsimikas on the pitch at Yankee Stadium — apparently aggrieved that Szoboszlai handed the captain's armband to Tsimikas rather than him when subbed off. These things happen behind closed doors all the time. Having it play out in public is different. Inter Milan have reignited their interest in Jones, who is out of contract next summer, and the optics of that incident won't have helped his cause.
Szoboszlai, by contrast, has had an excellent tour and looks set to become vice-captain following Andy Robertson's departure to Tottenham. His new five-year contract is done. His leadership, by all accounts, has been a genuine asset.
Off the pitch, there's further turbulence. Michael Edwards has left his FSG role. Sporting director Richard Hughes is being linked with Al Hilal. A consortium led by Amit Bhatia has expressed interest in a minority stake. Liverpool's ownership structure is in flux at exactly the moment stability would help most.
Iraola came to Chicago talking about finding the best positions for every player and building combinations. Five weeks before the Newcastle opener, he's still waiting on his centre-backs to get fit, chasing a €150m winger, managing dressing room politics, and watching his club's boardroom shift under his feet. The preseason tour answered some questions. It raised a lot more.
