Liverpool £200m transfer blitz can make mockery of football's 'ugly' word

For a club who restructured their entire football operations department before adding a new sporting director and head coach, the word 'transition' felt appropriate at Liverpool last year. After Michael Edwards was coaxed back into the Fenway fold as FSG's CEO of football, Julian Ward also returned as an employee of the Boston-based Reds owners.

Meanwhile, director of football development Pedro Marques and head of goalkeeping Hans Leitert were also recruited.

At Anfield itself, Richard Hughes came on board from Bournemouth as sporting director after being headhunted by Edwards and immediately got to work on sourcing Jurgen Klopp's replacement, which led him to Rotterdam to speak to Feyenoord boss Arne Slot.

With all this upheaval and change, it was no surprise that few were tipping Liverpool last year as they emerged from the long shadow of the iconic Klopp, whose star power dwarfed all around him on Merseyside. How the Reds were going to cope without their talismanic and charismatic leader was the major question on everyone's lips.

But while the stars aligned around the first-team playing squad itself, that was largely kept intact as it stood prior to Klopp's departure, save for a late move for Federico Chiesa from Juventus, whose impact was negligible for the Premier League champions.

But having emerged from a period of deep uncertainty off the pitch, Liverpool's state of flux now arrives in the squad itself as the Reds continue plundering towards a total of £200m for new additions on Merseyside at the mid-June point.

Having seen Caoimhin Kelleher and Trent Alexander-Arnold depart for Brentford and Real Madrid, Andy Robertson the surprise subject of Atletico Madrid attention and Jarell Quansah closing in on an exit to Bayer Leverkusen, the turnover this summer is only set to increase, given the window still has over two months to run.

Harvey Elliott has been making noises about considering his own future, while Darwin Nunez will likely be given options elsewhere, with Napoli mulling over a potential move. Luis Diaz is wanted at Barcelona meanwhile and players like Tyler Morton and Ben Doak may find themselves looking elsewhere.

That's quite the facelift for any squad, let alone a team who are fresh from celebrating a Premier League title, which was won by 10 points having failed to pick up a victory in the any of the final four games.

The arrivals of Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz, from Bayer Leverkusen, should excite, while £40m Milos Kerkez is expected to become a Reds player himself next week. Marc Guehi may even join from Crystal Palace if the right fee can be agreed upon for an England international centre-back in the final year of his Selhurst Park contract.

Frimpong will add a huge injection of pace to the team alongside his versatility and poise on the right side, while Kerkez's aggression, speed and technical quality make him an outstanding candidate on the opposite flank.

It is the £116m arrival of Wirtz that has put the rest of Europe on notice though. After seeing Manchester City concede defeat before the mighty Bayern Munich were forced to do likewise, the belief that the Reds have snared one of the most coveted young players on the planet is widespread.

The knives will be out from the detractors but Liverpool aren't in the business of spending huge amounts purely to make misguided statements of their status and they believe he will become a world-class operator on Merseyside.

Meanwhile, the search for a younger centre-back with a huge ceiling to develop is being prioritised and having seen targets of a similar profile in Levi Colwill, Leny Yoro and Dean Hujisen all join Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid respectively over the last three summers, that gives you an idea of the sort of level the club are targeting to fit into their 'young centre-half' plans.

The word 'transition' is an ugly word in football and is generally viewed with negative connotations for clubs attempting to move away from a difficult period.

But if there is to be any adaptation at Liverpool this summer, as they get set to welcome Frimpong, Wirtz and Kerkez to the AXA Training Centre for pre-season training next month, it should only be viewed as mouthwatering prospect for supporters, who are seeing their club be aggressive and proactive in their efforts to continue the wildly successful maiden term under Slot and Hughes.

The Reds could be set to redefine what a transition season really means.

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