What does a perfect summer look like for Arne Slot's Liverpool?

What the squad might look like

It's finally happening; we're sliding Trent Alexander-Arnold up to central defensive midfield to pull the strings from the heart of the pitch.

It's a role of elevated importance in the Slot system, while it's hard to imagine Trent and Andy Robertson providing such a dynamic presence from their fullback spots as they did under Klopp.

One issue has always been the lack of ability to backfill at right back, but the emergence of Conor Bradley has provided an answer to the question of "who exactly will play that spot if Trent moves up the pitch?"

A full-time backup for Bradley would be a helpful signing, but it wouldn't be impossible for Alexander-Arnold to fall back to his old spot on occasion, nor for Slot to get creative with a substitution from time to time.

So, let's talk about what a "first-choice" XI might look like given those changes to the roster and approach.

Obviously, nothing's changing in the net, that'll still be Alisson, and the back line will be full of familiar faces; from left to right, Robertson, one of Konaté or Quansah, van Dijk, and Bradley.

Then there's the midfield, for which there are plenty of options given the moves we've discussed. Mac Allister is likely to be a nearly-permanent fixture, but around him, plenty of changes can be made.

As we've discussed, Trent could slot in here, leaving just one more spot to fill, presumably an attacking one.

That could be Griezmann or Szoboszlai, or if Summerville really takes off, even Mo Salah could shift to the middle as he continuously becomes more of a playmaker than a pace-based player.

The good news is that with all of these options, Gakpo won't be asked to play in this role one in which he was so clearly uncomfortable when called upon this past season.

If the third midfielder is to be more possession or defensively-minded, and of course if Mac Allister or Alexander-Arnold are resting or elsewhere on the pitch, there are some different options.

Squad mainstays Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott aren't going anywhere, but there's also Ryan Gravenberch, who had some great spells to end the season, and Stefan Bajcetic, who really impressed in 2022-23 before losing most of his 2023-24 season to injuries, but is an incredibly promising talent.

Lastly, the front three, which should fall into place rather comfortably given the moves we've discussed. Salah on the right, Isak up top, and Gakpo on the left would be the top choices, but Summerville, Griezmann or Jota, and Szoboszlai could fill in at each spot, respectively, as needed.

Overall, this lineup has plenty of versatility, with players ready to hop in off of the bench, and lots of positional versatility in both starters and backups.

While depth has so often plagued Liverpool as they've chased multiple trophies in seasons past, there should be much less of a fatigue issue in the midfield and attack, all while sticking to a summer net spend of approximately -€54.5m, based on those Transfermarkt evaluations.

Of course, there was no purchase of a backup right-back in our discussion, but that could be rectified quite easily with that transfer profit margin.