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Arne Slot insists “a club like Liverpool always keeps its eye open” when it comes to transfers, but would not be drawn on whether they will sign a new No. 6.
With the Reds now having returned to Merseyside and joined by their summer internationals, Slot will work with his full squad for the first time on Tuesday.
It is expected that this will see the club finally kick into gear when it comes to transfers, after a quiet summer with no signings so far.
Speaking to journalists including the Mail‘s Lewis Steele following the 3-0 friendly win over Man United in the United States, Slot insisted sporting director Richard Hughes is “working hard” on a difficult task.
“I notice that you are focused a lot on new signings!” he remarked.
“I am focused on the tour, how we played, what we need to improve and what we did well.
“Like I said, the bar is really high for new signings because we have so many good players.
“It is not so easy to first find a player to meet those standards and then ask, ‘is he available?’.
“Then we have to find an agreement with them, so it is not always easy to find a player who can help us but Richard is working hard on it and let’s see what comes from this.”
It has been reiterated on a number of occasions that Liverpool are only seeking top-tier additions to their squad, which appears to have complicated the search for a defensive midfielder.
Wataru Endo seems out of favour, having only started once in three games on the US tour and being subbed at half-time in that 1-0 win over Real Betis.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch were preferred against Arsenal and Man United respectively, and while an £11.8 million bid from Marseille has already been rejected, it is likely Endo would be sold for the right offer.
Asked specifically about signing a new No. 6, Slot replied: “Ryan did really well in that position [against United] and we have other options as well.
“The best way to judge it is when we have all the players back and we still haven’t, but a club like Liverpool always keeps its eye open to see what’s available.
“For players that can strengthen the squad and that is what we – Richard mostly but me as well – are looking to do.
“But that is not particular to one position. We constantly evaluate the squad where we can do something and what we have.
“We have a good platform to build from and not just because of this tour, Jurgen left this squad in a very good place, I think I said that before.
“Now it is up to us to keep performing like Liverpool did for so many years.”
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