Arne Slot faces at least seven transfer decisions at Liverpool this summer as another chance looms

As with any club that changes manager this summer, Liverpool will have a clean slate to start from when pre-season begins and the starting pecking order for the campaign will be set.

Arne Slot will take over from Jürgen Klopp at Anfield and there will be decisions over the summer that influence who is in the starting XI when the Premier League resumes in mid-August. Will be Ibrahima Konaté, Jarell Quansah or someone else pairing him with Virgil van Dijk at centre-back for example? Who will be number nine in the first pick?

However, it’s not just those in this season’s squad who will be keen to impress. Liverpool have had a number of players out on loan this season and some of them have the chance to return to the fold and re-establish themselves in the Anfield set-up.

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Fábio Carvalho is perhaps the most obvious of these. On loan at Hull City in the second half of last season, the Portuguese attacking midfielder was impressive in the Championship but struggled to get on the pitch while at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.

Perhaps that suggests Carvalho could face an uphill battle to cement himself properly in Slot’s plans for next season. — and there is also a question mark over his best position and whether Liverpool will play anyone there. But the 21-year-old has already admitted he has his eye on making a positive impression.

Speaking about his situation and that of Tyler Morton, another Liverpool midfielder who was at Hull last season, Carvalho told the Liverpool ECHO: “Whatever happens in the future I will leave it to God. The way I see it, it’s a fresh start.

“We just have to take the chances that come and really grasp them and grab it with both hands. In the end, it’s a new start for both of us. We’re going to get back there with nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Of all those who went out on loan last season, Carvalho and Morton have the best chance of making a big enough impression this summer to be part of Slot’s 2024/25 plans. The pair clearly have enough talent — the question is whether there will be enough playing time for them in a very well-stocked midfield.

Sepp van den Berg has done well with Mainz as the German side avoided relegation to the Bundesliga, but this week BILD reported that the Dutchman could make that move permanent for a fee of approx. $10.8m (£8.5m/€10.0m). The chances of him being at the level required to play regularly at Liverpool are slim, but that would represent a healthy return for It cost $1.7 million (£1.3 million/€1.5 million).

Nat Phillips is another centre-back who should move for good this summer. Now 27, the defender fought for game time at Celtic on loan last season before then moving to Cardiff City where he was a regular.

Right-back Calvin Ramsay, who has battled injuries since signing for Liverpool from Aberdeen, just needs to get fit. He is talented but needs luck and maybe he could go out on loan again. On loan at Preston North End and then Bolton Wanderers, he managed less than 200 league minutes in 2023/24 due to various injury problems.

This summer, decisions will also be made with the likes of Bobby Clark and Kaide Gordon, who are just two youngsters who could benefit from going out on loan for regular senior minutes. That pair is too good for U21 football these days, but it remains to be seen how much of a route to minutes under Slot could be.