Liverpool's first pre-season session under Iraola will be shaped by who is missing as much as who is there. Five players are still on World Cup duty, several senior names are working back from injuries, and Jérémy Jacquet is due in as the £60m new arrival. It is a messy opening to a summer that has already followed 12 league losses and a fifth-place finish after the title defence.
World Cup absences and injury returnees
Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo were all out at the last-32 stage of the World Cup, while Alisson Becker, Alexis Mac Allister and Victor Munoz remained in the tournament at the time of publication. Liverpool will not get the clean group return that managers usually want on day one, and that leaves the early sessions more about piecing together availability than bedding in patterns.
There is also the injury side. Hugo Ekitike is working his way back from a ruptured Achilles, and Conor Bradley's season ended in January during a goalless draw with Arsenal. Those absences do not just reduce numbers, they take away options in positions Liverpool will want settled quickly.
Jacquet gives Iraola one clear arrival
Against that backdrop, Jacquet is the obvious fresh face. He confirmed his £60m arrival from Rennes on July 1, and the club correspondent at the Liverpool Echo put it bluntly: "new signing Jeremy Jacquet will be on board from day one having confirmed his £60m arrival from Rennes on July 1."
That matters because the rest of the session is being built around recoveries and late returns, not a full-strength group. Liverpool do have one obvious point of certainty, though, and it is the player who turns up already signed, registered and ready to work.
Joshua Abe is also set to travel on the summer tour of the United States, which gives the club at least one more young body in the mix. But the bigger picture is still the same: Iraola's first morning is less a reunion than a headcount, and the list begins with names who are not yet in the building.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →