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Frimpong and Wirtz could link up at Anfield again (Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Arne Slot had tried to downplay the size of the transfer window that had been approaching at Liverpool but actions have since spoken louder than the words.

Asked for his take on Virgil van Dijk's claim that "a big summer" was on its way for the Premier League champions, Slot attempted to undersell it, preferring, as he has tended to, to extol the virtues of the players currently at his disposal instead.

"Let's see what the rest of the summer will bring," Slot said in late April.



"But it would be strange for me to say now I am not happy with the team we are having because I've said this for a year, we are happy with the team we are having.

Maybe if we can keep that team it will already be a big summer."

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Despite the public insistence though, Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes had already identified two specific traits they wanted to inject into a squad that eventually ended the campaign as Premier League by 10 points, without winning any of their final four games.

Improving such a group of players is clearly a difficult task but the ball is not so much already rolling as it is snowballing downhill at quite the pace.

"If I look at the way we think about next season and our squad," Slot said last month.

Apart from the transfer window, we can also improve certain aspects ourselves.

"I think [evolving the team] happened already with us in the second half of the season.

Then sporting director Michael Edwards had a clause inserted into the deal that excluded Barca from returning for any Reds player for the next two years on top of a fee that was highest ever received for a Premier League exit.

"I do know we can make different things better with this team already," Slot said recently.

That would place him inside the top five of the Premier League term.

And while that sort of pace is not something transfer target Florian Wirtz is naturally associated with, the Germany international's tactical flexibility is perhaps a key part of the package that now has Liverpool bidding £109m for his services.

Having won the charm offensive ahead of Manchester City and Bayern Munich, the Reds are now locked in negotiations with Leverkusen over the 22-year-old Wirtz and any deal agreed will be a club record one.
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