Agent spotted at Anfield, new Liverpool transfer is imminent

An agent has been spotted at Anfield and Liverpool's new signing is now imminent.

The transfer window is heading into its most important stretch, and for Richard Hughes, the next few weeks could go a long way towards defining his legacy at Liverpool.

There is no getting around it anymore. If the window closes without Liverpool making some serious additions, questions over Hughes' work as sporting director will be impossible to avoid.

Ambitious plans and big decisions only mean so much if Andoni Iraola is ultimately left to start his first season with a squad that is clearly lacking in several key areas.

At the moment, Victor Munoz remains Liverpool's only senior addition.

There is plenty to like about the Spaniard. He has the pace, athleticism and technical ability to become a very good player for Liverpool, and there is certainly excitement around his arrival. But expecting one signing to suddenly fix a squad with so many weaknesses would be asking far too much.

The problems go well beyond one position.

Liverpool still need reinforcements across the pitch, while the growing injury list has made an already difficult situation even more concerning.

Instead of heading into the new campaign with genuine competition for places and plenty of options at Iraola's disposal, the new manager is currently having to wait for players to return from injury just to have enough bodies available.

That is hardly the ideal way to begin a new era.

And nowhere is the problem more obvious than in defence.

Jeremy Jacquet arrived at Liverpool with a reputation as one of the club's most exciting young prospects, but the wait to see him in a red shirt is still going on.

The Frenchman has yet to return to full training and was not involved against AS Monaco, leaving his availability for the Premier League opener against Newcastle United increasingly doubtful.

Then there is Joe Gomez, whose latest injury setback brought his pre-season to an abrupt end after just eight minutes. He is now expected to miss the opening weeks of the campaign.

Giovanni Leoni is also still sidelined as he continues his recovery from a serious ACL injury, with the Italian not expected back until September. For Andoni Iraola, that leaves a worrying lack of experienced options at centre-back.

Virgil van Dijk is therefore the only real certainty for the opening day. The obvious question is who plays alongside him.

Liverpool will be hoping Jacquet can recover in time, but there is no guarantee that he will be ready. And if he isn't, Iraola's options suddenly look extremely thin.

Mor Talla Ndiaye is one of the club's most exciting young defenders and has plenty of potential, but throwing him straight into a Premier League debut against Newcastle under these circumstances would be a huge gamble.

Ifeanyi Ndukwe cannot even be considered as an option right now, with the defender still waiting to secure the work permit required to play.

It leaves Iraola in a remarkably uncomfortable position before he has even taken charge of his first competitive game.

Thankfully, it looks like Liverpool are acting quickly to sort this situation out. It is thought that they are closing in on the signing of Ronald Araujo from Barcelona.

The experienced centre-back has played for Uruguay at senior level and has over 300 competitive appearances for Barcelona having also been the club's captain.

How close the move is, appears to have been exposed by the fact that Araujo's agent was spotted at Anfield talking to Richard Hughes.

Sky Sports cameras spotted Edoardo Crnjar walking alongside Hughes in the mixed zone while Florian Wirtz was talking to the media.

This would suggest a new signing is now imminent for Liverpool.