Long-term Liverpool target is now not a 'priority' for Andoni Iraola

Andoni Iraola has only been Liverpool's manager for a short amount of time.

However, the Spaniard has already welcomed one of his fellow countrymen to Anfield in Victor Munoz and he also seems to be in regular contact with Richard Hughes about Liverpool's next moves in the market.

This is good news for Liverpool, especially after they finished fifth in the Premier League last time around.

Many players still need to be welcomed through the L4 doors if they want to challenge for the title and potentially the Champions League.

But, since there are so many areas of their squad that need upgrading, it feels like the Reds are going to have to pick and choose what their priorities now and, unfortunately for one of the Reds' long-term targets, he's seemingly not made it onto Iraola's list of needs.

Andoni Iraola doesn't want to sign Adam Wharton for Liverpool

One of the main areas that Liverpool struggled with last season was their midfield.

The Anfield outfit were miles behind their rivals with players such as Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch failing to make an impact.

This lack of form led the Reds to lose multiple games but, since Arne Slot didn't really trust players such as Curtis Jones, he continued to stick with the aforementioned duo even though they were rather terrible.

It has also made fans want new signings for the centre of the park which is why it's a bit of a surprise to see Iraola not wanting to add Adam Wharton to his ranks this summer.

"Crystal Palace are growing increasingly "confident" of keeping Adam Wharton as interest from Liverpool has cooled, sources have told Football Insider," they wrote.

"The 22-year-old has been outstanding for Crystal Palace and played a key role in his side winning the FA Cup and Conference League in the last two seasons.

"That has attracted interest from high-profile suitors, with Liverpool having been the most keen, but that interest appears to have faded in recent weeks.

"As I revealed on the latest edition of Football Insider's Transfer Insider podcast, Andoni Iraola does not view Wharton as a priority and is instead looking at other targets.

"Meanwhile, Tottenham's signings of Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, Man City's signing of Elliot Anderson and Man United's pursuit of Alex Scott have given the Eagles room to breathe.

"Crystal Palace are extremely reluctant to lose key players in the summer window, and hope Wharton will continue to play a key role under Pierre Sage."

Liverpool are running out of options to sign in defensive midfield

Although Gravenberch may have been one of the Premier League's best number sixes during the 2024-25 campaign, last term, he went back to his old self and was making mistake after mistake.

His passing was atrocious and, every time he was running alongside an opponent, he didn't look able to stand his ground and out-strength them.

This led to many fans demanding that a new defensive midfielder was brought in and, while most of them expected it to be a priority for Liverpool this summer, it's now been made more than clear that it isn't.

Of course, they do have players such as Stefan Bajcetic who they could call up to help the Dutchman out but, since he's not really played much football over the last couple of years, it's unclear how good he actually is.

There's obviously loads of time for things to turn around and Iraola could even end up changing his tune about Wharton but, with how inflated the market for defensive midfielders is this summer, a deal for the Englishman could end up being extortionately priced.

This is likely to be one of the main reasons why the Reds aren't going all out for the midfielder.