The Reds' engine room has been completely overhauled during the summer, meaning Jurgen Klopp now has plenty of options available to him
Liverpool left themselves with an awful lot of work to do this summer. As manager Jurgen Klopp put it, the Reds had to "reinvent one of the most successful midfields this club ever had". Of course, they only had themselves to blame in that regard.
An awful lot of time and effort was wasted on wooing Jude Bellingham, who ended up joining Real Madrid for far less money than a panicking Liverpool offered Brighton for Moises Caicedo. By that stage, the fans were as confused as they were frustrated.
They had been buoyed by the pace at which Liverpool had wrapped up deals for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai – an apparent sign that under new sporting director Jorg Schmadtke the club was finding its feet again in the transfer market.
However, Liverpool then exacerbated their midfield problem by letting both Fabinho and Jordan Henderson move to Saudi Arabia without having a single replacement lined up. Alarm bells started ringing around Anfield, as both Caicedo and Romeo Lavia – their top two defensive midfield transfer targets – both joined Chelsea.
Schmadtke, though, managed to turn things around in the final two weeks of the market by returning to his native Germany to sign Wataru Endo from Stuttgart, and Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich. The pair may be at opposite ends of their respective careers, but both look like bargain buys.
Consequently, Klopp is in far better form than he was ahead of the opening game of the Premier League season at Stamford Bridge, where he played Cody Gakpo in midfield alongside Mac Allister and Szoboszlai with predictably unimpressive results.
"The midfield will be completely new," he said. "I know people expected it to be different but it is how it is and I really think we did good business. The players we brought in are really good and will help the team. We got younger but we had to. We are less experienced but that is normal. We are full of desire and I love this team."
There are a couple of reasons why. Firstly, as Klopp has already correctly pointed out, Liverpool now have a far greater goal threat in midfield than they did when the likes of Fabinho, Henderson, James Milner and Naby Keita were in the starting line-up.
Secondly, the new arrivals are very versatile, meaning there is scope for Liverpool to move away from their usual 4-3-3 formation if required. Indeed, it's clear that the Reds are now so well-stocked in midfield and attack that they could – and indeed should – eventually add a few more strings to their bow in the coming months and years.
Klopp is in no rush to experiment yet, though.
"We can definitely play different systems and we can think about that, for sure," he said, "but, early in the season you keep things [going well], by not changing 12 times in four days."
Such logic makes perfect sense, of course. Liverpool have four new midfielders; the primary objective has to be for them to learn how to function in Klopp's preferred formation – which is not easy, as Fabinho, for example, learned when he first arrived from Monaco.
So, what is the best combination right now, given Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic and Thiago Alcantara are also vying for starting spots? GOAL runs through Liverpool's midfield options below and evaluates their chances of starting in Klopp's strongest side as the Premier League resumes after the international break…
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8Thiago Alcantara
The one Liverpool midfielder one would have actually expected to move to Saudi Arabia during the summer and yet Thiago Alcantara is still at Anfield, even if a lot of people have forgotten that fact. That's understandable, of course, given the Spaniard hasn't been seen on the pitch since April because of a hip problem and Thiago's terribly frustrating injury record is the main reason why he's not expected to feature much this season.
However, if the 32-year-old were to somehow stay fit – and we appreciate that's a big if – he could actually have both a big and influential role to play. The tenacious playmaker has an elite level of experience that many of his midfield rivals lack while not one has a better range of passing.
If Thiago were allowed to sit at the base of the midfield and dictate the game through the deployment of two hard-working and hard-running No.8s alongside him, he could absolutely run the show for Liverpool. Think Andrea Pirlo at Juventus, when he had Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal doing so much of his dirty work for him. It's quite a thrilling thought – but perhaps not a realistic one because of Thiago's physical fragility.
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7Harvey Elliott
Harvey Elliott rather unfairly became something of a lightning rod for fan frustration midway through last season but he really wasn't to blame for Liverpool's struggles in midfield. The Reds were simply paying the price for poor recruitment coupled with the poor form of more experienced players.
However, there is no denying that Elliott struggled with the attempt to transform him from a wide attacker into a right-side forward into a multi-functional midfielder and there is still some uncertainty over Elliott's best position – as well his hopes of becoming a regular under Klopp.
He has, at least, featured in all four games so far this season, impressing off the bench with his mix of energy and technical ability, most notably against Newcastle, but his task of breaking into the starting XI has not been made any easier by the arrivals of Szoboszlai and Mac Allister – not to mention the fact that Liverpool are so well-stacked in terms of inside forwards.
Elliot is still only 20, though, so he has plenty of time to develop and prove his worth at Anfield.
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6Stefan Bajcetic
Another Spanish No.6 with a question mark over his fitness right now but the hope is that Bajcetic could make his first appearance of the season this weekend, after making the bench for Liverpool's last three Premier League fixtures. It would certainly represent a most welcome and timely return.
Bajcetic was, as Mohamed Salah admitted, Liverpool's best player during his run in the starting line-up last season and the adductor injury he suffered in March came as a hammer blow to a player that assistant coach Pep Lijnders had described as a gift from the academy.
Liverpool are obviously unwilling to rush the 18-year-old's reintegration into the team. He is most definitely one for the future, so he shouldn't be ushered in to solve a present problem. But given his athleticism, his defensive capabilities (he used to play at centre-back at Celta) and his combination of skill and swagger, Bajcetic could easily end up making the No.6 slot his own for years to come.
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5Ryan Gravenberch
Liverpool left it so late – and they arguably wouldn't have got a deal for Ryan Gravenberch over the line had Bayern Munich not fully believed they'd sign Joao Palhinha from Fulham – but all that mattered as far as Klopp was concerned was that the Dutchman arrived at Anfield before the transfer window closed.
There will be some concern among supporters over the way in which Gravenberch failed to shine under two different managers in Munich, particularly as there were reports of a poor attitude and a lack of defensive discipline hindering his hopes of convincing either Julian Nagelsmann or Thomas Tuchel that he was worthy of regular game time.
However, it basically came down to the fact that neither man came to view Gravenberch as a No.6, so there appears no chance of him replacing Fabinho in front of Liverpool's back four – at least not yet.
Klopp has also acknowledged that the Netherlands international still has plenty of things to work on – which is only natural, as the manager pointed out, as Gravenberch is still only 21.
It seems highly unlikely, then, that Liverpool's latest signing will walk straight into the starting line-up but given his athleticism, composure on the ball, range of passing and dribbling skills, it is easy to envisage Gravenberch becoming Klopp's belated replacement for another Dutchman – Gini Wijnaldum.