Three new Liverpool players can help Arne Slot emulate Reds legend again next season

After emulating Joe Fagan by winning the title in his debut season, Arne Slot must follow the legendary manager again.

Fagan was the last Liverpool boss to retain the title in 1984 and only Bob Paisley won successive league crowns at Anfield. It is a rare achievement and only Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola have managed it in the Premier League era.

Liverpool’s title defence in 2020 imploded, party because of having to play without the Anfield crowd, their Twelfth Man, due to Covid, and . Slot will ensure Liverpool do better next season and the title race looks more open than it has for years.

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Will Manchester City come back under Guardiola after they abruptly ran out of steam in October? Will Arsenal sign the striker they so badly need and go one step better than their three successive runners-up places?

The momentum is with Liverpool and Slot and while it is easy to say their challengers fell away, they have won the Premier League with four games to spare and remain on course to finish with 94 points. Those are hugely-impressive stats in any era and they undoubtedly will be the team to beat next season.

Slot is already used to the pressure at Anfield and is relaxed about next season. “I don’t have to manage expectations because the expectations of this club are always the same, we have to compete for every trophy,” he said.

Liverpool got away without strengthening Jurgen Klopp’s squad last summer and instead they won the league thanks to Slot’s magic. They cannot expect Slot to be so brilliant when three of his key men - Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Alisson - are 32 or over.

Armed with their windfall from winning the Premier League, Liverpool could have their most active summer since 2018 when they splashed out £175million on the likes of Alisson and Fabinho. They need at least three signings, if not more, and the most obvious is at left-back because of Andy Robertson’s decline.

Kostas Tsimikas is not good enough to be Liverpool’s first choice and Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez is the current favourite to follow Richard Hughes to Anfield, two years after the Reds sporting director signed him for the Cherries. Spanish international Dean Huijsen could follow Kerkez up from the South Coast and Liverpool need reinforcements at centre-half because Slot does not seem to rate Joe Gomez or Jarell Quansah.

Liverpool also need strengthening at right-back and losing Trent Alexander-Arnold, the best passer of a ball in the Premier League on his day, to Real Madrid on a free is a real blow. Conor Bradley has the potential to succeed him, but worryingly the Northern Ireland star has four injuries in the last two seasons, meaning Liverpool need another full-back.

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Bayern Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong is an option and the Dutch international came through at Manchester City before joining Celtic. Liverpool could freshen up their attack if they offload Darwin Nunez to the Saudi Pro League and he is the one player Slot has not been able to improve, having managed just seven goals in 41 games.

Diogo Jota could also be sold if Liverpool receive the right offer and the Portugal striker has managed just one goal in his last 15 appearances. Liverpool are set for a busy summer and success doesn’t stand still.

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