Liverpool's Transfer Window Ends with Questions but Hope for Injured Players

Liverpool’s transfer window ended with more questions than answers, but a sliver of relief is on the horizon – and it’s coming from the treatment room, not the market.

With the squad short on a right-sided winger, another midfielder and proper cover at right-back, the club explored late options. One of those, according to reports, was a deadline move for Chelsea’s Malo Gusto on loan, a player who could have plugged gaps both at right-back and in midfield. Chelsea’s stance was firm. No bargain, no deal. Liverpool walked away empty-handed.

So this is the reality: the squad is set, but it’s anything but settled. The depth chart looks thin in key areas, and the coaching staff will have to squeeze every drop from what they have while they wait for bodies to return.

That wait, at least, now comes with a clearer sense of hope.

According to The Times, Liverpool expect Hugo Ekitike, Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley all to play a “chunk” of this season. Not a cameo week here or there. A chunk. Given what each has been through, that single word changes the mood.

All three have been out for the long haul. Ekitike, the most recent casualty, has still been sidelined since April. Bradley has not featured since the turn of the year. Leoni has been missing since last September – close to a full year of absence.

These are not minor knocks or niggles. They are serious injuries, the kind that blur timelines and raise doubts about what a player will look like on the other side. Liverpool have never been able to put firm dates on their returns, and even now there’s no guarantee of sharpness when they do step back on the pitch. Match fitness will lag behind medical clearance. That’s inevitable.

Yet the suggestion that each could contribute a meaningful stretch of the campaign feels significant. It hints at more than a token comeback. A month or more from all three, with the possibility that one or two play themselves into a real rhythm, would change the complexion of Liverpool’s season.

Player Updates

Leoni is expected to be the first back in contention. The club will not rush him, not after such a long lay-off, but his return to the matchday picture is edging closer. Ekitike is likely to be a longer wait, potentially pushing towards the Christmas period, though the expectation remains that he will still have a role to play before the season is out.

Bradley is the mystery card. Updates on his condition have been sparse, and there has been little clarity on the true severity of his problem or a concrete recovery date. The fact Liverpool actively tried to bring in a right-back late in the window hardly inspired confidence about his short-term prospects.

Yet The Times’ line that Bradley, too, could feature for a chunk of the season cuts through that uncertainty. If that proves accurate, Liverpool’s most important reinforcement in that position may not come from the market at all, but from within.