Liverpool have had one of their quietest transfer windows in recent history. The Reds had a rather poor season after seeing most of their centre-backs suffer long-term injuries. It saw Jurgen Klopp's men limp to a third-placed finish in the league.
This prompted many Liverpool fans and pundits in general into believing the club will spend heavily to bridge the gap between themselves and rivals Manchester City and Manchester United. However, that was not the case.
Instead of making a host of new signings, Liverpool used the transfer window and the funds available for a completely different use. The Reds have used the past couple of months to tie down key first-team players on new long-term contracts.
Liverpool have given long-term contracts to the likes of Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho. They can all be considered vital members of the Reds squad.
Liverpool have addressed their defensive issues in the transfer window
Despite all of the contract renewals, Liverpool did spend big on their only summer arrival this season. The Reds spent £36 million on RB Leipzig's French U-21 centre-back Ibrahima Konate. Liverpool have signed Konate as a defensive backup for either Van Dijk or Joel Matip with the intention of gradually moving him into the starting XI.
Ibrahima Konate comes with a ton of experience having represented RB Leipzig on more tha 90 occasions in four seasons in Germany. The 22-year-old centre-back has been given the number 5 shirt at Liverpool which clearly means he has a future in Jurgen Klopp's first-team soon.
However, as things stand, Ibrahima Konate is yet to make his Liverpool debut. He has featured on the bench in all three Premier League games so far this season. The 22-year-old defender could make his debut when the Reds face Norwich City in the Carabao Cup.
However, the transfer window saw Liverpool sell some of their fringe players to balance the books. The most notable outgoing was the departure of Georginio Wijnaldum to Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. The Dutch international had established himself as one of Liverpool's key players under Jurgen Klopp.
Apart from Wijnaldum, Liverpool have also sold Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri to Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais for around £9.5 million.
The rest of Liverpool's outgoings were basically young players who were far away from first-team football. Harry Wilson was sold to Fulham for £12 million while Marko Grujic was sold to FC Porto for around £10.5 million.
Despite making minimal improvements to their squad, Liverpool are still considered to be one of the favorites to win the Premier League title this season.
Ins: Ibrahima Konate
Outs: Gini Wijnaldum, Liam Millar, Marko Grujic, Harry Wilson, Xherdan Shaqiri, Taiwo Awoniyi, Kamil Grabara, Ben Woodburn (loan), Sheyi Ojo (loan), Ben Davies (loan), Sepp van den Berg (loan), Leighton Clarkson (loan).
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