Andoni Iraola defends Liverpool opting against throwing ‘crazy money’ at short-term fixes

Andoni Iraola has defended Liverpool’s summer transfer strategy and said the club were right not to pay “crazy money” for short-term fixes while Hugo Ekitiké, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni are recovering from serious injuries.

Liverpool had the highest net spend in the Premier League, with Bradley Barcola, signed for a potential £123m, added on Monday to a front line that includes the £125m Alexander Isak and £116m Florian Wirtz. Barcola could make his debut at Ipswich on Friday, despite not featuring for Paris Saint-Germain this season.

Liverpool’s outlay did not include a right-back, defensive midfielder or right-winger but Iraola, who believes Barcola could be deployed in Mohamed Salah’s old position on the right, insisted he had no qualms with the squad at his disposal.

“I’m very happy with all the signings we’ve made,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I know the next question: ‘Do you want more signings in other positions?’ At the end the club has decided those signings we have done are the ones that improved our team and our position.

“There were other options we decided not to take, for different reasons: sometimes it is sporting reasons because they don’t improve what you have, sometimes it is economical reasons as it didn’t make sense in terms of the market to do those movements. But I’m happy now I know what we have, I have a lot of quality in the team and now it is the moment for us, for the players, for me to develop what we have.”

Leoni has been sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury since last September but is expected to resume first-team training during the international break, which starts this month. There is no date on Bradley’s and Ekitiké’s return from serious knee and achilles injuries respectively, but Iraola said the club had to plan for the long term and wait for all three to recover.

Iraola said: “The club has decided not to sign someone because we need them for these two or three months and instead trust the players we have, us working with the players we have and thinking of the long term.

“Yes, as a manager you need the players for today but if they [the club] explain to you the vision and the long-term project, you also have to understand the club. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to pay crazy money – the market was the market – for players who maybe in the long term you don’t need. Then you will need this money to solve other problems in that position. Sometimes it’s better to look a little bit further than the next game and the next month.”

Despite the absence of a natural right-winger – Liverpool explored deals for Yankuba Minteh at Brighton and Ismaïla Sarr at Crystal Palace – Iraola is confident Barcola, Victor Muñoz, Cody Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha will provide sufficient cover.

He said: “I think we’ve preferred at the end to have the best players, probably, than a player that maybe is specifically for that [right-sided] position. I’m very used from my previous teams to demand for all the wingers to play both sides.

“Probably all of them have played more on the left, but I would say I’ve seen them in a good place on the right. Probably Rio is more specific from the left side, but I think he has also showed the willingness to improve and play on the right. Even Bradley, he’s very open and I think he can play right and left. He started actually more on the right side when he started with Olympique Lyonnais. I’m happy with the four wingers we have and I’m sure we are going to be able to cover those two positions.”