Liverpool: Slot says it’s a ‘pity’ Marc Guehi did not join Reds’ revolution

Arne Slot admits it “was a pity” Liverpool did not complete the signing of Marc Guehi on deadline day but was happy to console himself with the capture of “maybe the best striker in the world” in Alexander Isak.

The Premier League champions thought they had completed a wonderful transfer window, that saw them sign Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Giovanni Leoni, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, by securing a deal for England international Guehi.

But Crystal Palace’s failure to sign a replacement saw the move collapse at the last minute and Guehi will remain at Selhurst Park until January at least.

Slot wanted Guehi at Liverpool

Slot confirmed Guehi had been a target but does not believe a failure to lure him to Merseyside leaves Liverpool short at the back. 

He said: “I think it would be ridiculous if I was to deny that we were close to signing him. These things happen in football and it has happened to our players in the past that they thought they were so close to signing somewhere else and then at the last moment things changed, this can happen.

“For me, we would have liked to have signed him of course because we were in for him and if we feel we can strengthen the team with a chance in the market then we will not hesitate to do so and that is what we tried to do.

“We played Arsenal and [Ibrahima] Konate and [Virgil] van Dijk played an outstanding game and Joe Gomez came in 20 minutes before the end and did good as well. With us signing Giovanni Leoni who had his first international call up, it’s not like all of a sudden we don’t have options in that position anymore.

“It is a pity, not only for us but for the player I think. He is in a good place playing at Crystal Palace where he won the FA Cup and Charity Shield with a very good manager as well.

“Let’s see what the future brings for him and for us.”

Liverpool boss Slot delighted to snare Isak

One player they did get over the line was Isak, who, after a protracted saga that effectively saw him go on strike at Newcastle, joined for a British record transfer fee of £125million.

“A lot of things happened on the last day which is not always the situation as last season we hardly did anything in the whole window,” added Slot.

“The thing that pleases me most is us getting the deal for Alex over the line, everyone involved worked so hard to get the deal done. It’s good for the club, for the fans, for the players and for me that all the work they have put in resulted in Alex signing for us.”

Isak made his return to competitive action with Sweden during the international break but was limited to 18 minutes as Sweden’s World Cup qualification hopes took another hit with a 2-0 defeat against Kosovo on Monday.

He is likely to be on the bench as Liverpool go to Burnley on Sunday and Slot says he will ease him in gently.

“The Sweden manager [Jon Dahl Tomasson] deserves a big, big compliment because he gets maybe the best striker in the world and he needs to play two very important games for his country but understands that if he would play him twice for 90 minutes then the player would be injured for multiple weeks and that is not always easy for a manager that he takes care of the interest of a player,” he said.

“We will treat Alex the same as they did so don’t expect him to be [playing] every single game 90 minutes on the pitch as that is definitely not going to happen in the upcoming weeks.

“He missed a proper pre-season and I think he missed three to four months of team sessions so now we have to build him up gradually with us playing so many games. That is going to be a challenge but we have not signed him for the next two weeks we have signed him for six years and the fans have to keep this in mind.”

New signings simply replace those no longer at Liverpool – Slot

Liverpool have an embarrassment of riches in attack but Slot is confident he will be able to give regular playing time to the likes of Isak, Ekitike, Wirtz, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo.

“Yes [we do have quality in attack] but if the question is ‘is that the first time?’ then the answer is no,” the Dutchman said. “Last season I could change games around with Diogo [Jota] with Darwin [Nunez] and with Lucho [Diaz], the three players that are not here.

“That is what a club like Liverpool could do in the past, this is a normal at a club like Liverpool to have options to change the game if necessary.”

Liverpool have won their opening three games of the season despite not hitting top gear.

They head to Turf Moor with a full squad to choose from, bar Curtis Jones, who sustained an injury during the 1-0 win over Arsenal before the international break.