Liverpool’s Wanted List of Strikers: Who Makes the Cut for Slot’s Summer Overhaul?
Striking Need for Change at Anfield
As the Arne Slot era continues to take shape, attention is turning to Liverpool’s frontline – and rightly so. In the latest episode of Another Podcast on Anfield Index, Dave Hendrick made it abundantly clear: changes up top are needed and overdue. “We should be selling Darwin because it just hasn’t worked,” Hendrick stated. “And we should be selling Jota because he’s 28, he’s got two years left on his deal, he can’t stay fit and he’s had a flat-out bad season.”
🆕 Another Podcast: Loads of Strikers
🎙️ @HendrickD82 looks at potential forwards for the summer!
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The wanted list is long and varied, but Hendrick has taken a detailed approach to profiling strikers, organising them into four tiers. It’s not a scattergun approach – it’s targeted, with specific attributes in mind.
Tier One: Elite or Bust
At the very top, Hendrick lists three standout options: Alexander Isak, Julian Alvarez, and Victor Osimhen. But each comes with caveats. Isak, the Newcastle United forward, is “very unlikely given the price” and because “Newcastle flat-out just don’t want to sell.”
Alvarez, now at Atlético Madrid, is one Liverpool have long admired. “He is one of the most intelligent players in the world, one of the most selfless players in the world, and he’s a production machine,” Hendrick explained. He added: “Julian Alvarez absolutely is someone we should try and buy this summer.”
Then there’s Osimhen. “60 million buyout is a bargain,” Hendrick insisted, brushing off the long-standing concerns over the striker’s injury record. “His injury record is not as bad as you would think it is… In the last eight years you’re really only looking at two hamstring injuries.”
Strong Alternatives in Tier Two
With the elite trio potentially hard to acquire, attention shifts to Tier Two — players good enough to start, even if not global superstars. Hendrick name-checked Viktor Gyökeres, calling him “without question an excellent footballer,” noting that he’s “absolutely someone we should look at if we can’t get one of the elite three.”
Also mentioned were Mateo Retegui, who Hendrick praised as “a born goal scorer,” and Matheus Cunha, described as “an outstanding Premier League footballer.” Hendrick flagged concerns about Cunha’s work rate — “that stat that came out about how much he walks… would be the big red flag” — but acknowledged his “talent demands that he’s on this list.”
Backup Options with Long-Term Promise
On the backup list, one name stood out with particular excitement: Liam Delap. “Liam Delap is well worth going for as the backup,” Hendrick said, describing the £30 million release clause as a smart investment. “If the delap doesn’t pan out, you’re still going to make your money back… and if he does pan out, and [a starter] is just in incredible form so there’s not going to be a spot for him, you sell him and make a huge profit.”
Hendrick also made room for names like Jonathan David (“he knows how to score”), Georgiy Mikautadze (“great movement, really high technical level”), and even a curveball in Evan Ferguson — “he’s only 20… and with his combination of size, strength, speed, and finishing ability, he’s someone you have to look at.”
Final Thought: Options Galore
There’s no excuse for standing still. As Hendrick put it plainly: “There are loads of options out there. So if you hear, ‘Oh well, Liverpool didn’t do that because they just didn’t think there were any options,’ it’s never going to be true.”
Liverpool’s striker search is not short on names — it’s now a question of which profile best suits Arne Slot’s system, and which deal the club can realistically land. From elite to emerging, the list is packed with potential — now it’s time to act.
