Editor’s Column: Arne Slot has sent a message to Richard Hughes

Liverpool were pretty impressive in their 3-0 victory over Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.

Luis Diaz got two, Darwin Nunez scored a beauty and the backline secured a fourth clean-sheet of the season.

The midfield was fantastic, again. Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dom Szoboszlai actually swapped positions throughout, so there was no set double-pivot. They took turns to surge forward. It was unpredictable and very exciting to watch. The three work well together and have cemented their starting positions.

But it was extremely telling that Arne Slot named only one midfielder on the bench in Curtis Jones.

He specifically chose to not even name Wataru Endo on the substitutes bench.

Tyler Morton was also used in the Under-21s instead, proving that Slot doesn’t consider the young Englishman a regular option even as a sub.

So with no injuries to central midfielders bar Harvey Elliott, who will play no.10, Slot still only named one midfielder in his nine replacements. Slot could not be more clear that he does not rate the Japan captain and that Morton will not be picked regularly.

Granted, the duo might play in the League Cup game against West Ham, but they’ll be out of the XI for Wolves at the weekend, regardless of their performance.

Slot is signalling to Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes that he needs central midfield enforcements in January.

We obviously went big for Martin Zubimendi in the summer, with the Spaniard turning us down to stay with Real Sociedad. They have started La Liga horribly. They’re 17th in the table with one win in seven matches. What was he thinking? Rumours suggest he regrets his decision, but Slot has indicated Liverpool may not go back in for the Euros winner.

“If I could have bought Martin Zubimendi, then maybe I could have rotated a bit more and the media would be a lot more happy about it!”, he said, reported by Romano. 

“There is no point talking about Zubimendi anymore because he stayed with Real Sociedad…

“Also, we’ve moved on and we are really happy with Ryan Gravenberch.”

It is noticeable that Slot though says he cannot rotate with his current options. He is continually telling his sporting director, with his decisions and comments, that he needs more midfield options.

I don’t actually think Slot’s comments are as black and white on Zubimendi as they seem. If the 25-year-old really wants to leave, I’m pretty sure Liverpool would be back in for him.

However, we might have competition from Manchester City. They have just lost Rodri, potentially for the season. He’s their most important player and will no doubt flex their financial muscle to get someone in.

Hopefully, their potential points deduction and relegation might put off players from making the move.

Who could we sign? We need a player who is technically capable, loves the football, can construct passages of play from the back but also be feisty and combative off the ball.

See Ryan Gravenberch this season! Another one of him, aged 22, would be absolutely brilliant. Well done to Jurgen Klopp and Jorge Schmadtke for getting that one done for less money than Bayern Munich paid for his replacement Paulinha.

FC Porto have Alan Varela. Good player. Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton fits the bill. Exequiel Palacios ticks a lot of boxes when you research the best midfielders on and off the ball.

But Hughes will have a list and far more information on prospective targets than we can fathom.

Make certain of one thing though; Liverpool will do all they can to sign a midfielder in January. And if they don’t, they will have ignored Slot and badly let him down.