Liverpool transfer mess: Three glaring problems Andoni Iraola must solve this season

Earlier this week, Liverpool confirmed that Richard Hughes had stepped down from his role as sporting director and would be joining Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, bringing an end to a relatively brief but eventful spell at Anfield.

His departure comes after another frenetic summer in the transfer market, during which the Reds spent heavily once again, most notably on the blockbuster arrival of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain, although the foundations for this spending spree had already been laid last summer with the record-breaking signings of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz.

Despite the scale of their investment across the two windows, however, there remains a sizeable question mark over whether the squad possesses sufficient depth to withstand the demands of another gruelling campaign.

The 47-year-old arrived at Anfield following the departure of long-serving manager Jurgen Klopp and played an instrumental role in the appointment of Arne Slot, who sensationally guided Liverpool to their 20th Premier League title in his first season.

With the foundations of a title-winning side in place, the squad appeared to need only carefully selected reinforcements, but Liverpool instead embarked on a sea-change in their transfer strategy, splashing record sums on some of Europe's most coveted young stars in an attempt to keep the club at the summit for years to come.

On the surface, it was a glamorous transformation, with the Reds seemingly assembling a squad capable of competing on every front, but the cracks gradually became impossible to ignore as Slot struggled to replicate the magic of his debut campaign and Liverpool eventually slumped to fifth in the Premier League last season.

Amid growing frustration among the supporters, Slot was relieved of his duties and replaced by Andoni Iraola, a familiar face to Hughes from their time together at Bournemouth, giving the new manager a considerable challenge as he attempts to reshape a squad that has undergone significant change.

Liverpool's mixed summer transfer window

Jeremy Jacquet, whose deal was confirmed in January, arrived from Rennes, while Liverpool also brought in Victor Munoz, Ronald Araujo on loan and Barcola, with the quartet costing a combined £217.5m and underlining the scale of the club's investment in Iraola's first summer at the helm.

The spending has certainly made headlines, but it has also been accompanied by a considerable exodus of experience, with Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate all departing as free agents, while homegrown midfielder Curtis Jones was allowed to join Inter Milan for a deal worth £30m.

Liverpool subsequently rejected an £80m offer from Manchester City for Cody Gakpo, a decision that was understandable given their inability to find a suitable replacement, but it has only served to highlight the fine line Iraola is now walking with his squad.

Despite making an unbeaten start to the season, including a 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town, there is an unmistakable feeling that Liverpool's squad is considerably thinner than it first appears, particularly when the intensity of the Premier League and European football begins to take its toll.

The first XI is undoubtedly capable of going toe-to-toe with virtually any side in Europe, but the absence of an out-and-out defensive midfielder and the failure to address the right-back position could prove to be Liverpool's Achilles heel when injuries, suspensions and fixture congestion inevitably arrive.

A team can carry a few weaknesses over the course of a season, but those weaknesses tend to become considerably more conspicuous when the games begin arriving thick and fast.

The biggest positive, without question, is the arrival of Barcola, who already has two Champions League titles to his name with Paris Saint-Germain and reportedly had his heart set on a move to Anfield.

The Frenchman brings pace, unpredictability and an ability to operate across the frontline, and his arrival gives Iraola another devastating weapon with which to stretch opposition defences and create space for the likes of Isak and Gakpo.

Iraola has always favoured versatile attackers and a front-foot approach, making Barcola an especially intriguing addition to his Liverpool project, while Munoz, Gakpo and Isak all possess the technical quality and positional flexibility to flourish within such an aggressive system.

The ingredients are certainly there for something spectacular, but the real test will come when the fixture list begins to tighten its grip and Iraola is forced to look beyond his strongest XI, because that is when Liverpool's lack of depth could either be exposed or finally silenced.

Major headache for Iraola: How to solve right-back issues?

Jeremie Frimpong has struggled to make the desired impression in Liverpool's opening two matches, prompting Iraola to leave him out of the starting XI for the latest game and move Ronald Araujo into the right-back position, a decision that underlined just how quickly the new manager has become aware of the vulnerability on that side of his defence.

With Conor Bradley still some way from returning, Joe Gomez's fitness remaining a major headache and Giovanni Leoni needing to be carefully managed after missing the entirety of last season with an ACL injury, Liverpool find themselves with precious little room for manoeuvre.

Araujo arrived on loan from Barcelona and is primarily viewed as a stop-gap solution, although the Reds do have the option to make his move permanent next summer for £47m, should the Uruguayan prove capable of turning a temporary fix into a more convincing long-term answer.

Dominik Szoboszlai could also be asked to fill the void, with Iraola already hinting that the Hungarian is an option at right-back when required.

His intelligence, positional awareness and ability to cover considerable distances could bring a degree of balance to the right side of the defence, but moving him deeper would inevitably deprive Liverpool's midfield of his boisterous energy, relentless running and ability to drive the team forward.

Liverpool should be in considerably better shape once Bradley returns, but even his comeback will need to be handled with care given the defender's own history of injuries, meaning Iraola cannot simply bank on the 22-year-old being available week after week.

For now, the right-back position remains something of a house of cards, with one injury or tactical reshuffle capable of forcing another change.

Liverpool's lack of depth in midfield - hopes on Trey Nyoni

Iraola admitted that he did not want Jones to leave, but the midfielder wanted a fresh chapter in his career, presumably somewhere he felt he would be given greater appreciation and a more prominent role, leaving Liverpool with a sizeable hole that the club surprisingly chose not to fill before the transfer window closed.

The Reds were linked with Lamine Camara at various stages and could revisit the possibility of signing the Monaco midfielder in January, but for now Iraola must work with what he has, and that presents a rather awkward puzzle.

Wataru Endo remains at the club, yet his omission from Liverpool's Champions League squad is a fairly emphatic indication that he does not figure prominently in the Spaniard's plans.

It is equally unclear whether Iraola genuinely views Ryan Gravenberch as a long-term solution at number six, given that the experiment initially introduced by Slot only worked consistently for a relatively short period of around five months.

Alexis Mac Allister remains capable of playing a pivotal role, although questions persist over his long-term future, while Szoboszlai may once again have to sacrifice his preferred midfield role to plug the holes elsewhere.

That leaves the Spaniard placing an enormous amount of faith in academy graduate Trey Nyoni, who has caught the eye during pre-season and shown encouraging composure in his substitute appearances.

The teenager possesses the technical ability to suggest he belongs at this level, but there is a considerable difference between looking assured in cameos and being trusted to control the tempo of a full 90 minutes when the pressure is relentless and every misplaced pass can be punished.

Liverpool will discover soon enough whether Nyoni has the maturity, concentration and physical capacity to shoulder a meaningful workload, but the wider picture remains concerning, because their midfield is undeniably light on established options and that is an issue for which Hughes, despite his departure, cannot entirely escape responsibility.

Liverpool transfer mess: The right-wing conundrum

Finding a like-for-like replacement for Mohamed Salah was never going to be an easy assignment, because players who combine his goalscoring, creativity, durability and ability to consistently torment defenders from the right are exceedingly rare.

Michael Olise perhaps comes closest to fitting the profile, but with the Frenchman settled at Bayern Munich, Liverpool were always going to struggle to find a natural successor who could simply step into Salah's enormous shoes.

The problem becomes even more apparent when the rest of the squad is examined, because Cody Gakpo, Bradley Barcola, Victor Munoz and Rio Ngumoha all prefer operating from the left, leaving Iraola with the unenviable task of asking some of his most natural left-wingers to perform on the opposite flank.

Liverpool may revisit their interest in Yankuba Minteh in January, while waiting until next summer for Olise could also be an option if circumstances change, but neither solution offers an immediate answer to the imbalance.

Munoz has already shown encouraging signs on the right, while Barcola and Gakpo will inevitably have to put in shifts there as well, with Frimpong another potential option should Iraola decide that his pace and attacking instincts can be better utilised higher up the pitch.

The options are plentiful, but quantity should not be confused with suitability, and the Reds have plenty of players who can occupy the position without necessarily having someone who makes it his own.

Federico Chiesa, meanwhile, appears to have fallen into the same category as Endo in terms of Iraola's trust, and his future at Anfield could therefore be short-lived if Liverpool decide to create space for another attacking addition.

On paper, the Reds have an embarrassment of riches in the wide areas, particularly when Lewis Koumas is added to the equation, but scratch beneath the surface and the imbalance becomes glaringly obvious.

Andoni Iraola: Can he get the best out of the present group?

Not every problem comes with a ready-made solution in the transfer market, and if Liverpool begin treating every squad weakness as something that can simply be postponed until the next window, they risk setting a dangerous precedent while placing even greater pressure on Iraola to extract more from the players already at his disposal.

That is where the Spaniard comes into the picture, because Iraola has built a reputation for improving players through coaching, tactical clarity and a demanding front-foot philosophy, and his biggest challenge this season may be less about finding new recruits and more about maximising the considerable talent already sitting inside the dressing room.

When Bradley, Leoni and Hugo Ekitike eventually return from their respective absences, it should feel almost like Liverpool have completed a trio of mid-season signings, giving Iraola additional options and easing some of the pressure created by the lack of squad depth.

Those reinforcements will not solve every structural issue, but they could give the Spaniard enough breathing room to navigate the most demanding stretches of the campaign without constantly having to reshuffle his side.

For all the concerns surrounding the squad, it would be impossible to overlook the sheer quality available to Iraola, because any team that can call upon Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Ekitike, Isak, Wirtz and Barcola should be setting its sights on considerably more than merely securing Champions League football.

Hughes may have left Iraola with a collection of elite-level players, but he has also left behind some unmistakable gaps, and whether the new Liverpool boss can use his coaching nous to paper over those cracks, maintain the team's competitive edge and turn an imperfect squad into a title challenger could ultimately determine the fate of the Reds' season.