Liverpool

Aadam Patel
Liverpool reporter

Image source, Getty Images

It has been almost public knowledge over the last year that Richard Hughes would be leaving for Al-Hilal and the announcement of his departure marks another moment of massive change at Anfield this summer.

Liverpool replaced Arne Slot with Andoni Iraola at the end of last season before Michael Edwards, FSG's then CEO of football, resigned in July.

Last month FSG confirmed it sold a minority stake in the club to Amit Bhatia's 1892 Holdings - a consortium that includes Jeff Bezos - and now the club are on the hunt for their fifth sporting director since 2022.

Edwards left the role of sporting director in 2022 and was replaced by Julian Ward, who is now FSG's technical director. Ward was replaced in 2023 by Jorg Schmadtke before Hughes arrived in 2024.

After Jurgen Klopp stepped down, Hughes oversaw the appointment of Slot, who helped Liverpool win their second Premier League title. For that, Hughes deserves credit - even if he was part of the decision to sack Slot.

But his legacy will perhaps only be fairly judged in the future, given he oversaw the appointment of Iraola and Liverpool's mega summer window in 2025 where Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak arrived for fees in excess of £100m and the club spent a then record £415m.

Hughes made the decision to leave earlier this year, informing the ownership of his desire to seek a fresh challenge.

This followed the decision of Edwards to step down in autumn - which was confirmed over the summer - and it was agreed that Hughes would remain in position until the end of the summer window.

His existing relationship with Iraola further underlined the logic of keeping him on through the summer.

Despite speculation that Hughes was already working for Al-Hilal, Liverpool are satisfied that an agreement for him to only work for Liverpool during this period was honoured.

Get the full story on Hughes here

We asked for your thoughts after Friday's Premier League game between Ipswich Town and Liverpool.

Here are some of your comments:

Ipswich fans

Philip: Absolutely terrible start and never really recovered after that. The defence will cost us games, and the midfield needs to be ready for the battle every single week. Never really laid a glove on Liverpool, to be honest.

Rob: We played well after a poor start. I am not sure that our new goalkeeper is an improvement on Christian Walton.

Mel: We lost the ball too easily and didn't manage to dispossess them hardly at all. So many bad passes. Apart from Enciso, Fatawu and Davis, some expensive players still need to get their acts together. Not sure our new goalkeeper is better than Walton. But, on a positive note, they are slowly getting better and I can see us getting some good results this season and staying up.

Joseph: Two years ago we would have rolled over and conceded five or six. Fair play to this Ipswich side for trying. The cutting edge will come with time, we hope!

Liverpool fans

John: The system showed signs of coming together perfectly. The threat of Bradley Barcola on the bench seems to have fired up Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak to wake up. Defence still looks a bit unsteady, especially at right-back.

Ian: So important to get the win. Lots of positives. Jacquet played his first 90 mins. Two goals for Isak. Araujo tidy at right-back. Gakpo's attitude and performance were impeccable. Onwards and upwards.

John Y: Much better first half. Struggled to control the game in the last 20 mins by conceding possession far too easily. Isak and Gakpo worked well together. Funny game, football. Gakpo could easily have been at Manchester City rather than providing two assists for us this evening.

Arshad: Our £125m striker has finally arrived. Gakpo was immense and I'm sure every Liverpool fan is thankful we didn't sell him. Unfortunately, Wirtz is still looking lightweight, hopefully he'll turn it around. Overall, a much better performance and finally a clean sheet.

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

Alexander Isak was the £125m striker who finally arrived at Liverpool by tormenting Ipswich Town - while Cody Gakpo's virtuoso performance had them giving thanks he never left.

The nuts and bolts of a comfortable Friday in Suffolk were that Liverpool won 2-0 - thanks to two Isak goals in the first nine minutes, giving them their first Premier League victory of the season and new manager Andoni Iraola's first since succeeding the sacked Arne Slot.

Liverpool's win must be placed in the context of being against a newly promoted Ipswich Town who were game, but who shipped five goals at Manchester United last week and look ripe for the picking against attacking quality.

The wider significance, however, was that Isak finally looked like the player Liverpool broke, at that time, the British transfer record to seal an acrimonious transfer from Newcastle United last summer.

Throw in the added bonus that Bradley Barcola showed flashes of devastating pace in a 26-minute debut display after his £123m arrival from Paris St-Germain, and this was a night that ticked every box for Iraola and Liverpool.

Even Barcola's bow, however, was overshadowed by Isak.

The Sweden striker looked a lost soul in his first season at Liverpool, arriving out of condition after downing tools to secure his move from Tyneside, then troubled by injuries as he gave the impression of being the most expensive vanity purchase in British football history.

He was outshone by fellow striker Hugo Ekitike, his statistics stark as he suffered along with many others in an astonishing decline amid Liverpool's dismal title defence that led to Slot's sacking only a year after he lifted the Premier League trophy.

Isak played 22 games encompassing 1,033 minutes, scoring four goals at a rate of one every 258 minutes. He played 14 games in the Premier League totalling 703 minutes, scoring only three goals at a rate of one every 234 minutes.

He has already equalled that league tally this season, but it was his demeanour as well as his lethal finishing that will have given Liverpool and Iraola confidence that the Isak code has finally been cracked.

And it was done by utilising Isak at his best - running in behind defenders and pressing with pace. It was what made him such a hot property at Newcastle United, and made everything about his every miserable moment on the pitch with Liverpool last term such a mystery.

It was also done in tandem with Gakpo, who could easily have been back in the north west preparing for Manchester City's game against Coventry City at Etihad Stadium had the move not collapsed.

Read more here

Liverpool starting XI:

Alisson: Lucky to get away with misjudging a first-half corner. The occasional anxious moment but no harm done. 6

Ronald Araujo: Strong in the air and on the ground on an impressive Premier League debut at right-back. Important interventions by being in the right place at the right time. 7

Virgil van Dijk: Usual unruffled self in the face of some frantic Ipswich Town attacking. 7

Jeremy Jacquet: Solid alongside Van Dijk. Continues to look a very fine acquisition. 6

Milos Kerkez: Occasionally troubled by Fatawu's pace but never in huge difficulties. 6

Dominik Szoboszlai: Driving runs from midfield and always willing to test the keeper. Iraola should never use him at right-back. 7

Alexis Mac Allister: Still not quite at his best. Too many misplaced passes but never hides or shirks responsibility. 6

Florian Wirtz: Busy but occasionally lightweight. As so often, showed subtle touches that hint at good things to come. 6

Alexander Isak: The best of Alexander Isak at last. Running behind a defence with pace and clever movement with cool finishes. Finally showed why Liverpool bought him. 8

Victor Munoz: Willing and pacy out wide but could have delivered more end product. 6

Cody Gakpo: Could have been playing for Manchester City. How glad Liverpool are he wasn't. Two superb passes for Isak's opening goals, Truly outstanding performance. 9

Liverpool substitutes:

Bradley Barcola (on 64, Munoz): Showed one or two flashes of the lightning pace the £123m signing will bring to Liverpool. 5

Ryan Gravenberch (on 64, Isak): Brought on to shut down any potential Ipswich Town revival.

Nyoni (on 84, Mac Allister)

Lewis Koumas (on 90, Wirtz)

Subs not used: Mamardashvili, Frimpong, Tsimikas, Endo, Ngumoha

Read the full article and see how you rated the players

Keifer MacDonald
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Reuters

It was a night that was supposed to belong to Liverpool's latest blockbuster signing, Bradley Barcola, but Alexander Isak had other ideas.

The Swede has endured a difficult, injury-hit first 12 months at Anfield, but he used the familiar surroundings of Portman Road to fully launch his Liverpool career.

The last time he made the trip to Suffolk to face the Tractor Boys, he left with the match ball after scoring a hat-trick in Newcastle United's thumping 4-0 victory.

That came during a season in which the forward scored 27 goals, earned a place in the PFA team of the year and helped the Magpies win silverware.

That is something Andoni Iraola will hope the striker can replicate this term after finally appearing to find his feet in a Liverpool shirt.

If he is to do that, it seems Cody Gakpo will be the perfect dance partner. The Dutchman showed no sign of a hangover from his failed move to Etihad Stadium as he continued his impressive start to the campaign with two assists for the former Newcastle United forward.

The prospect of a fully fit and firing Isak leading the line, flanked by Gakpo and fellow £100m-plus signings Florian Wirtz and Barcola, will no doubt excite Iraola after he secured his first win as Liverpool manager.

Liverpool, however, do have issues at the other end of the pitch and, although they kept their first clean sheet of the season, the Spaniard will not be satisfied with everything he saw.

But the sight of Isak wheeling away in celebration may just be enough to take his mind off those concerns, even if only for one night.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola speaking to Sky Sports: "It's nice, definitely [to get the first win]. We needed that one with the way it has been. We got a clean sheet. Controlling the game quite well, I think that we started the game really strong, and then it was another kind of second half. Probably wasn't as good as the first one."

On Alexander Isak: "He's a massive player for us. My demands will probably not be about the goals; I know he is fit and in good shape. He's going to produce the numbers. My fight with him will be more about other stuff, how to help the team in other situations - but it is good he has already played two full games, scoring the goals, so I am very happy to have him."

He added: "Today I thought we were much better in our press in the first half, so we were covering very high, and then we could make contact with him [Isak] in good positions. If we recover the ball lower, it will be harder to find him, so it's all about community effort to get our number nine in situations that he was in today."

On Jeremy Jacquet: "I think for every centre back to play next to Virgil [van Dijk] is a masterclass, a lesson. In this case Jeremy has had his first full game; his first two games he couldn't finish them. He was tired. Today there was a moment in the second half I was in doubt, but I think he has to suffer, you know? Go through those periods so he can finish the game well, and slowly he can build his fitness levels."

On Bradley Barcola: "I think he had good minutes. I think he has a very good pass.

"In a counter, a couple of times we didn't find him, so we will have to learn these kinds of movements because he will be in behind, threatening all the time.

"He hasn't played any competitive minutes since the World Cup, so we have to be a little bit more careful, but I think he has been very good."

Liverpool striker Alexander Isak speaking to Sky Sports: "We were waiting for the first win. We talked about starting the game good, which we haven't done recently, so it was perfect for us to get two good quick goals."

On the result today: "With a normal pre-season, I think we are starting to get to the way we want to play. To be offensive and attack the defence. I think we did that today. We scored two, and we could of scored more."

Reflecting on last year: "It was not easy. It was obviously a long injury and a difficult season in general. I was thinking to have a good World Cup, and then to start off the season well, which I think I have done now. It's kind of behind me, but it wasn't easy."

Listen to more from Iraola on BBC Sounds here

Did you know?

• Liverpool have now won as many Premier League away games by two or more goals this season (one) as they did in the whole of last season (a 2-0 win at West Ham in November 2025).

• Both of Alexander Isak's goals were assisted by Cody Gakpo – with just nine minutes on the clock, it was the earliest that a player had assisted two goals for the same player in a Premier League match since April 1998 (Leicester's Steve Guppy for teammate Emile Heskey – eighth minute v Derby).

• Cody Gakpo has been directly involved in four goals in the Premier League this season (one goal, three assists). This century, only Mohamed Salah in 2024-25 has had more goal involvements through Liverpool's opening three games of a league campaign (six with three goals, three assists).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Ipswich's performance

What did you make of Liverpool's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Saturday for a selection of your replies.

Aadam Patel
Liverpool reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool have completed a £4.3m deal for French forward Djylian N'Guessan from St-Etienne.

The 18-year-old will spend the first half of this season on loan at Ligue 1 side Brest, officially joining the Reds in January, when his situation will be reviewed.

N'Guessan is a product of the St-Etienne academy. He made his debut in January 2025 and featured 13 times, scoring one goal. St-Etienne have a sell-on clause in the deal with Liverpool.

As with goalkeeper Lucca Brughmanns, who was signed on transfer deadline day in a deal that could be worth up to £30m, the move for N'Guessan is a result of work from Liverpool's global talent department that is led by Matt Newberry.

The forward featured seven times for France at the 2025 U20 World Cup and was also named in the team of the tournament at last summer's U17 European Championship.

Earlier this year, the Reds signed Senegal's Mor Talla N'diaye and Austria's Ifeanyi Ndukwe after the teenage centre-backs both impressed at the U17 World Cup in Qatar, while goalkeeper Armin Pecsi and midfielder Samuel Martinez have both joined in the past 12 months from Hungary and Colombia, respectively.

Tom McCoy
BBC Sport journalist

BBC Sport examines some of the key themes before Friday's Premier League match (20:00 BST), with Liverpool heading to Suffolk in search of a first win under Andoni Iraola.

Will spending spree pay off for Ipswich?

Ipswich announced their 14th and final signing of the transfer window on deadline day, with striker Zian Flemming joining from Burnley. The Dutchman's arrival completed an unprecedented recruitment drive for the Blues, who have spent approximately £186m strengthening their squad.

That surpasses the record for a newly promoted Premier League club in a single window, set by Sunderland last year, and also exceeds the summer outlay of European giants such as Barcelona and Paris St-Germain.

Chairman Mark Ashton revealed last month that the club's US owners had instructed him to "go right to the limit of financial fair play". They are gambling that greater investment, coupled with a shift towards signing primarily overseas players, will help Town bridge the gulf in quality.

Ipswich's spending has focused mainly on midfield and attacking reinforcements. Although former Fulham centre-back Issa Diop has come into the side, three of the back four who started this season's opening two league games were also first-choice when the Tractor Boys were relegated in 2024-25 and defence may be an area of weakness.

That was certainly the case in last weekend's 5-2 defeat at Manchester United. After a competitive first half, Ipswich lost their way shortly after the restart, conceding twice in the space of three minutes. Gary O'Neil admitted his side lacked "emotional discipline" after United's second goal was allowed to stand despite Harry Maguire handling the ball in the build-up.

Greater composure will be needed against opponents who usually dominate this fixture. The Tractor Boys have lost their last four league games against Liverpool, conceding 17 times and scoring just once, while it is 40 years since their last home victory over the Merseysiders.

Barcola set for Liverpool bow

Liverpool came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Nottingham Forest on Saturday, just as they did at Newcastle on the opening weekend. New boss Andoni Iraola, who failed to win any of his first nine Premier League matches as Bournemouth head coach, will hope it is third time lucky at Portman Road.

The Spaniard said this week he was happy with his side's summer transfer business. The Reds' net spend was approximately £200m, the highest in the top flight, although the decision not to strengthen at full-back has come under scrutiny.

More than half of the outlay went on former Paris St-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, who is available to make his Premier League debut. The 23-year-old did not come cheap, having joined for a fee of £107m that could rise to £123m, but has a combination of attributes that would appeal to any club seeking an elite goalscoring wide player.

Barcola's best season to date came in 2024-25, when he scored or assisted 39 goals, the ninth-highest total by any player in Europe's top five leagues. While that figure fell to 21 last season, many of his underlying metrics remained impressive.

Used primarily on the left flank, Barcola utilised his dribbling ability and pace to create shooting opportunities for himself. He was the only player in Europe's top five leagues to average more than two shot-ending carries per 90 minutes, defined as shots taken after carrying the ball for at least five metres.

He also ranked highly for receiving the ball in dangerous areas, averaging nearly nine touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes. That placed him seventh among more than 1,500 eligible players, on a list headed by Barcelona star Lamine Yamal.

My daughter's old maths teacher, Mr Fields, is an Ipswich fan and he is very excited about how ambitious the club has been since getting promoted. I think all their supporters must be the same.

Ipswich have spent almost £200m on a stack of new signings to try to stay in the Premier League and, watching them, it is clear they are not just planning to park the bus.

They will be confident for this game after beating Sunderland at home on the opening weekend and I am expecting them to have a real go at Liverpool too.

It will be interesting to see if new signing Bradley Barcola starts for the Reds, who seem to have a lot of attacking players who like to play off the left.

Boss Andoni Iraola has plenty of attacking options, but I still have concerns about them defensively, while his players adjust to his front-foot pressing style.

I am sure he will get it right eventually, but at the moment they are leaking goals and creaking at the back.

My gut feeling is Ipswich will score, but Liverpool will still edge the win after two successive 2-2 draws. If their attack clicks, it will be hard to keep them out.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here

The weekly round-up focuses on Liverpool's transfer window.

The Reds' big signing of the window was Bradley Barcola from Paris St-Germain for £123m.

BBC broadcasters discuss the big weekly talking points for Liverpool FC while providing insight from their behind the scenes access at the club.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Alex Bysouth
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

The 'here we go' is on hold, the 'bombas' are done and dusted and the window panes are reverberating after being forcefully closed on Tuesday night.

Now comes the moment for new arrivals to make their mark on the pitch rather than the balance sheet.

Throughout the Premier League era there have been hordes of transfer hits and misses, but today we're looking at those signings who proved game-changing for their club and the competition, the ones who really moved the needle.

I've ranked my top 10 and this is where Liverpool's move for Virgil van Dijk placed.

Image source, Getty Images

6. Virgil van Dijk, Southampton to Liverpool, £75m, January 2018

Mohamed Salah might feel hard done by here. After all, he did score 32 Premier League goals in his first season at Liverpool after arriving from Roma in 2017.

But that didn't immediately move the needle in terms of pushing Liverpool further up the league table - they finished fourth again and scored only six more goals as a team compared to the previous season.

Instead, it was the £75m signing of Virgil van Dijk in January 2018 - and arguably goalkeeper Alisson Becker that summer too - that really raised the bar for Jurgen Klopp's side, who lost only once the following season and conceded just 22 goals as they racked up 97 points.

Incredibly, Liverpool were beaten to the title by Manchester City, but they became European champions and the following season won a first league title in 30 years.

Read Alex's top 10 game-changing transfers in Premier League history and make your own selections here

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool fan Lewis Aspinall has been discussing the Reds' transfer window with Total Sport's Phil Munns.

Aspinall told BBC Radio Merseyside: "It's going to take time, ultimately Iraola is not a short-term fix, he's someone who builds a squad.

"He transforms clubs based on time and developing young players. The problems this season for me are going to stem from the fact that he's not been backed suitably in the areas of the pitch where there's clear deficiencies for Liverpool.

"Right-back is a major concern, the depth at centre-back, or lack thereof, is a bit of a concern, midfield less depth than we had going into the window.

"I'm excited to see the football, but my worry is as the season progresses we're still in the Champions League, we've got two cup competitions and the Premier League where we're expecting Champions League football, that's the expectation now in this.

"Is he going to continue to get the best out of this squad without any layer of depth behind the initial starting 11? That for me is a big worry.

"Liverpool this season need to hit the ground running under Iraola and he's not been backed by bringing in players who suit their positions, it's all makeshift, it's all square pegs in round holes and he's expected to get on with it.

"I'm stressed out and disappointed with the window, I'm really let down and I know there's a lot of fans that are, but this season isn't about winning the league. This season isn't about coming in and just smashing everyone.

"This is going back to us resembling ourselves, front-footed football, aggressive, tenacious, none of this passing for passing's sake, none of this side to side rubbish, none of that. Iraola so far in the first few matches, there's been glimpses of it."

Listen by pressing play below or on BBC Sounds here

Aadam Patel
Liverpool reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Andoni Iraola is yet to win a game as Liverpool boss but there certainly wasn't any sense of panic when he spoke to the media for the first time since the transfer window ended, on Thursday.

Iraola feels "much more comfortable" now that he knows which players he has to work with and insisted that the responsibility is on him to "develop" what Liverpool have and that it is about "coaching and taking decisions".

Liverpool admired Iraola's trait of developing players when appointing him and now is the time to see what he can do.

Admittedly, Liverpool have lacked quality depth in their first two games, albeit with a number of players out injured. Iraola's insistence that he is "very happy" with all the signings they made suggests that there is a general feeling of satisfaction internally with the summer activity that saw the arrival of Jeremy Jacquet, Victor Munoz, Ronald Araujo and Bradley Barcola.

"I want to win. I need to win," said Iraola, after his side drew 2-2 against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest. It's early doors but anything less than three points at Ipswich will make things less comfortable for the Liverpool boss.