Arne Slot has conceded Liverpool can be considered favourites for the Premier League title but played down the impact of their spending and said a summer of upheaval had created some uncertainty over his team’s prospects.
The head coach accepts Liverpool will carry the mantle of favourites into the new campaign having won a 20th league championship by a comfortable margin last season. Liverpool, who face the FA Cup winners, Crystal Palace, in the Community Shield on Sunday, have since invested almost £300m on new talent and want to add the Newcastle striker Alexander Isak.
No Premier League club has spent more than Liverpool but the champions will have recouped almost £200m should Darwin Núñez complete his move to Al-Hilal. The portrayal of Liverpool as lavish spenders, insists Slot, is misleading.
“The net spend of us compared to the other teams is not in our favour if you look at the last two seasons,” he said. “It’s completely normal that we are one of the favourites, because we won it last season. And we brought in good players. Like all the other teams did, by the way. This is what makes this league so nice. I think there’s only been one exception [a team winning the league after a frugal summer] in the last two, three, four, five, six years, and that’s Liverpool last season.
“Every team in the Premier League is spending money. So if we are only favourites because we’ve spent a bit, I would see that as weird because we’ve lost a lot as well. But that we are favourites because we won it last season and we played so well, that’s clear. And the ambitions haven’t changed, because the ambition of this club is always to compete for every trophy.”
Slot believes it is premature to say Liverpool’s squad represents an upgrade on last season and says the departures of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Díaz – as well as the tragic loss of Diogo Jota – cannot be ignored. “The players we’ve brought in have done really well already, as expected,” he said. “But I cannot tell you now if these players are able to perform at the same level every three days; we first have to start the season. And I did know Luis Díaz was able to do that, and all the other ones were able to do that. So that is another challenge in the Premier League, because we play so many games.
“For Milos Kerkez, it’s going to be his first time at this level probably that he might have to play every three days. Florian Wirtz comes from the Bundesliga, where he was used to playing every three or four days, but we have to ask him in two months if the intensity levels of the Premier League are comparable with the Bundesliga.
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“In terms of talent and the quality we’ve brought in, we see that we have a very good team again. But we have to wait and see. Will they stay fit? The ones that have left were almost fit for the whole season. Will all the ones that we brought in do the same? There are multiple factors you need to take into account. I am really happy with the players we’ve brought in but we’ve also lost starters that had a big impact on our title-winning season last year.”