Liverpool given transfer warning as injury exposes problem they cannot avoid

It has taken less than a week of the Premier League season for the alarm bells to ring on the transfer issue most Liverpool supporters had envisaged. And surely the Reds hierarchy will have been taking note.

An injury picked up in training in midweek has made Jarell Quansah a doubt for head coach Arne Slot's competitive home bow against Brentford on Sunday.

One weekend on from being left out of the matchday squad altogether to rekindle debate over his long-term future at Anfield, now Joe Gomez is set to come in from the cold.

Should he do so, it will expose an obvious concern with which Slot, sporting director Richard Hughes and the Liverpool recruitment team must contend before the transfer window closes next Friday evening.

Liverpool need four senior centre-backs. And if Gomez does opt to pursue pastures new over the next seven days, any departure cannot be permitted without a replacement being not only sourced but also purchased.

The Reds have been trimming their options in the position since the end of last season when Joel Matip departed on a free transfer.

Sepp van den Berg, having been given a chance to impress during pre-season, has gone to Sunday's opponents Brentford in a £25m deal, while Billy Koumetio has been sold to Dundee and fellow Academy graduate Rhys Williams is out on loan. Nat Phillips is also up for sale.

That only Matip featured for the first team last season until his campaign was ended by injury in December may point to them all being surplus to requirements.

But that Liverpool are keen to overhaul their central defensive options this summer is obvious, even to the extent they were willing to allow Gomez to move to Newcastle United back in late June for £45m as part of a deal for Anthony Gordon that was ultimately scuppered.

Gomez featured for only 16 minutes during pre-season, fewer than any of Liverpool's international tournament participants. But with a recall possible - Quansah didn't train on Friday - Slot believes there can be no questioning the player's attitude.

“His head has been in the right place for three weeks," says Slot. "He has worked really hard since he came back. He didn’t play a lot in the Euros and when he came back in the first sessions he couldn't train the whole session so we had to manage his load and that was also a bit a reason why he wasn't in the team on Sunday.

"But this week he had a good week in terms of load and how much he could do with the team. He is one of the players that I see new things from and learn things what I see from him, also combined with other players. It has been a good week for him and us until now.

“At this moment I am expecting everyone to be here (after the transfer deadline). But like you know, everything can change."

Gomez's return to the fold would be on the bench, with Ibrahima Konate in any case favourite to start having replaced Quansah at half-time against Ipswich Town last Saturday as Liverpool overcame a wayward first half to win 2-0.

And of Quansah's reaction over the following days to a very public substitution, Slot says: "(It was) in a way you would expect a player to react.

"I spoke to him immediately after the game and again on Sunday, the day after. I don’t think there should be that much into it. What I said was he did NOT lose every duel. But he lost one or two important ones. What has been told to me is that I said he lost every duel which he did not do.

"I said to the team, it was not about Jarell. We as a team did not do well. At that time, the only threat from Ipswich was (Liam) Delap and he won one or two important duels. I was trying to get that strength out of their team by bringing in Ibou."