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

How about summer football?

It's not just any summer- it's a continental summer, with both the Euro and Copa America set to kick off.

As much as we do love to see our Reds shine on the national stage, the safest thing from a club perspective is for them not to have a chance at all.

For instance, Trent Alexander-Arnold has been constantly disrespected by Gareth Southgate and the rest of the England staff- if that continues, he could be fresh and healthy for the fall.

Portugal is another country with plenty of options, especially in attack; perhaps Jota's top priority could be on staying uninjured until August depending on his role in Germany this summer.

Griezmann could be a wise add in this regard as well, as his role for France is diminishing with the emergence of more young talent alongside Kylian Mbappé.

Sweden also failed to qualify for Euro, so Isak should be fresh as well. By contrast, moving on from two wingers playing in what is likely to be a very taxing Copa America is not a bad idea, yet another potential issue avoided by moving Díaz and Núñez.

The great news here is that Mo Salah can finally have a rest edge, a rare development and a real treat after AFCON derailed his start to 2024.

On the other end of the experience spectrum, leaning into young players like Summerville, Bradley, Quansah and even Elliott is that they'll all but certainly be left out of their nations' tournament plans, although Summerville linking up with Virgil, Gakpo and Gravenberch at Netherlands camp wouldn't be a negative either.

Speaking of Gakpo, he's one of the players we can hope to see have a great summer and bring newfound confidence back to Anfield; he dominated at the 2022 World Cup, and could be in for a similar tournament showing this time out.

Szoboszlai also tends to shine when wearing a Hungarian shirt, and should be a real treat to watch. Of course, the same could be said of World Cup hero Mac Allister, and to a lesser extent Alisson, but those South American stars usually show up for Liverpool in a big way regardless.

A fresh start

As magical as the Klopp era was, it's time for something new; it's hard not to be running out of energy, as the boss described himself.

A summer of new signings and positional re-shuffling could be just the boost Liverpool needs to kick off a new era of trophy hunting under Arne Slot.

The opportunity exists to create great squad depth with a productive yet financially responsible summer; all that remains is for Michael Edwards to work his magic, and for Liverpool's players to have a healthy summer with their national teams.