Liverpool in position to kickstart real transfer window

Liverpool are now in position to kickstart their real transfer window. Things have been slow - so far.

Liverpool's pre-season is underway and Andoni Iraola can finally have a proper look at his squad for the season. Well, that's the idea but reality is completely different.

Iraola actually has no idea what his squad will look like. Half the group remain away because of World Cup commitments and subsequent holidays.

It means the likes of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Virgil van Dijk will remain away for a little while longer. And then there's the even bigger issue: gaps in the squad.

Even when everyone is back from the World Cup, Iraola still won't have a proper squad. Liverpool, after all, lost Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson at the end of last season and haven't replaced them.

There's an argument that Jeremy Jacquet is simply a replacement for Konate, though Liverpool signed him believing they were retaining their former no.5. Kostas Tsimikas returns from loan and could take Robertson's role but this is a player who wasn't getting games at AS Roma last season.

The issue with Salah is a glaring one. Liverpool thought they were getting Yan Diomande to fill the void but they were wrong.

Injuries, too, like those to Hugo Ekitike and Conor Bradley, rob Iraola of even more key players. So altogether, it makes Liverpool's lack of transfer business incredibly worrying.

Which is why we can only believe that the World Cup was a major factor. Liverpool simply haven't moved for many players and the only way that makes sense is if they're waiting for the dominoes to fall post-tournament.

Now's the time when certain players can finally move and that allows certain other players to leave their clubs. Liverpool will want to take advantage of that - and so there's a sense that their 'real' transfer window starts this week.

Expect some movement to happen, and potentially quite rapidly. It simply has to.