Andoni Iraola admission leaves Liverpool with no other transfer option

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Richard Garnett argues that Liverpool can ill-afford not to bring in a player this summer who can operate at right-backWhen Trent Alexander-Arnold called time on his decorated Liverpool career, a mixture of emotions were stirred within the Liverpool fanbase.But as disgruntled supporters gradually came to terms with his exit, there was at least the safety net that the Reds had a ready-made replacement in the form of Conor Bradley. The Northern Irishman's iconic tackle on Real Madrid's star man Kylian Mbappe had already secured his reputation on the Kop, but last season did not go as planned for the 23-year-old.Bradley suffered with three different injuries during the first half of the campaign just gone, which limited him to just 15 Premier League appearances, but a serious knee injury against Arsenal on January 9, 2026, ended his season completely.With summer signing Jeremie Frimpong also hit by injury problems as well as being generally out of sorts, Arne Slot used no fewer than seven different right-backs across the course of the season, almost half of which were actually midfielders.It had been hoped that Bradley would be back in the swing of things by the time the new season gets underway, but that is not looking like a realistic aspiration, given Andoni Iraola's comments during his first-ever press conference as head coach of Liverpool FC.Assessing his squad, the Spaniard said: "I think we have to accept there are difficult situations right now in terms of both sides, a lot of senior players leaving, players who have achieved everything here and also some important players injured. [Hugo] Ekitike, Bradley, [Giovanni] Leoni, long injuries."So we have to replace important players making good numbers and those three injuries that will miss some time, we have to find a way to replace them.

These three, they are long-term solutions but there will be in this case a period where are without them, so we need solutions."If both Bradley and Leoni are missing for the start of the season, then Liverpool really do have to act decisively in the transfer market if they are to protect themselves from defensive vulnerability.Aside from the injured pair, Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson - both Premier League winners - have left for pastures new.That leaves Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez as the only senior centre-backs, alongside summer signing Jeremy Jacquet, who is unproven in the Premier League, but at £60m seems guaranteed to go straight into the first team.The departure of Robertson leaves a back-up hole at left-back, with Milos Kerkez, who struggled for consistency last term, facing little competition. One option is to find a defender who is just as happy to operate at centre-back as he is at right-back in an attempt to kill two birds with one stone.But will that give Iraola the type of fast, hard-working full-back that turned Kerkez into one of the players of the season during the 2024-25 campaign at Bournemouth and ultimately earned the Hungarian his big-money move to Anfield?

I suspect not.Perhaps more likely is that the Reds' new manager can use his proven track record for developing players to take a lesser-known light and polish them into an efficient team player, even if it is just for the short term.I can't see FSG wanting to spend a fortune on a right-back when there are pressing issues elsewhere on the pitch, which will no doubt cost a small fortune to improve upon.What the club cannot see, however, is the continued use of midfielders in an emergency capacity, upsetting the balance of the engine room. Nor do I expect that to be the case.Right now, Liverpool's defence is seriously lacking in depth, and as important as it is to bring in another wide forward who can help carry the load of losing Mohamed Salah, the pressing issues at the other end of the pitch are equally as important.Bradley can still be the future of Liverpool Football Club, perhaps even a captain in waiting, but his injury record dictates that availability can not be taken for granted and it looks like someone else will get the chance to stamp their own authority on the right-back berth when the Premier League season gets back underway next month.