Arne Slot's 9 signings at Liverpool ranked from worst to best

Liverpool has signed nine players since Arne Slot became the head coach in 2024, and some have been better than others

Milos Kerkez, Alexander Isak, and Florian Wirtz(Image: Getty)

Nothing could happen between now and the end of this season for Liverpool fans to conclude that this has been a successful campaign.

The Reds returned from the March international break with slim hopes of silverware in the FA Cup and the Champions League... and suffered 4-0 losses in both to guarantee a trophyless season.

Liverpool's title defense was effectively over before Christmas, as the Reds added an entry to the list of the worst title defenses in Premier League history, while a heavy defeat by Crystal Palace ended the team's EFL Cup hopes back in October.

The Reds' poor season is made all the more surprising by the summer spree they went on last year, when Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz arrived for colossal fees amid much fanfare.

Both men have struggled for different reasons, but other big-money signings like Hugo Ekitike have had encouraging first seasons in red.

All but one of Arne Slot's signings since becoming Liverpool head coach were made last summer, with Federico Chiesa, who arrived in 2024, the only exception.

Here's how we rank Liverpool's signings under Slot from worst to best...

9. Giovanni Leoni

It is not fair to rank Leoni as Liverpool's worst signing under Slot, as he suffered a season-ending injury on his first outing for the Reds, but he must go somewhere in this list, and purely by default, he is last due to us not seeing enough of him.

8. Freddie Woodman

Woodman has not seen much more game time than Leoni, but he just about edges the Italian due to his impressively composed performance after coming on as a substitute during last weekend's Merseyside derby.

7. Alexander Isak

It's tough to rank Isak fairly as he is yet to get going, but he must be ranked on what we have seen, and what we have seen has not been particularly encouraging.

The Premier League's most expensive player of all time has two Premier League goals after tallying 44 in the previous two campaigns combined.

Isak probably has too much quality not to eventually come good, but he's been more than a bit naff so far.

6. Jeremie Frimpong

Frimpong was viewed as a coup last summer as the Reds triggered his release clause at Leverkusen, but the Dutchman has looked extremely limited in most of his outings.

He has a remarkable burst of pace that can work him some space for a cross, but his reluctance to use his left foot makes him very predictable: he always goes down the outside of his defender.

Jeremie Frimpong has had a poor season(Image: MI News/NurPhoto)

Predictability doesn't always matter when a player does one thing really well, and Frimpong is really good at doing that, but that's seemingly just about all he is good at.

Too limited as a winger, too attack-minded to be a full-back — natural wing-back Frimpong may well be the ultimate system player, and Slot does not play wing-backs (yet).

5. Federico Chiesa

It's been a long time since Chiesa looked like the player who ripped up Euro 2020, and that is a great shame for the sports, as he was shaping up to be a top, top player for Juventus and Italy.

His explosiveness was a key weapon, but that quality deserted him when he suffered a serious knee injury a few years ago, which is why he was so cheap to sign last year.

Chiesa has a great song and has scored some important goals for Slot, but he is not particularly trusted by the Dutchman, who has handed the player just two Premier League starts in two seasons.

4. Giorgi Mamardashvili

Mamardashvili has had huge gloves to fill when he has deputized for Alisson, and it is harsh to judge him off the ridiculously high standards that the Brazilian has set across his time at Liverpool.

He had a spell in the team earlier in the season that was not so good, but he was starting to look a bit more confident recently before injury forced him off against Everton.

He's certainly one that Liverpool has high hopes for in the years ahead.

3. Florian Wirtz

Wirtz is perhaps a tad lucky to figure so high up on this list, but he simply has been better and more influential than the players that have already been mentioned.

He's still not done anywhere near enough to justify his huge transfer fee and wages, and although he has shown glimpses of his quality in recent times, there needs to be much more to come, or supporters will soon run out of patience with him.

Florian Wirtz is getting better(Image: Getty Images)

2. Milos Kerkez

There's a common theme in this list, and it's that there's plenty more to come from most of the players on it.

That is also the case for Kerkez, but with him, it feels as though he is just bedding in.

Slot has managed that process poorly — Andy Robertson should have started more games than he has done to ease the transition — but it's easy to envisage Kerkez really kicking on next season, and it is already known that he is more than capable of producing the goods in England after a brilliant 2024-25 season with Bournemouth.

1. Hugo Ekitike

There was only ever going to be one name topping this list — and it's the player that Liverpool might have to do without until 2027.

Ekitike was by no means perfect before getting injured against Paris Saint-Germain: he scored his goals in patches, and was going through a bit of a rough spell when injury struck earlier this month.

Seventeen goals in his debut season, though, were more than most would have expected upon his arrival from Frankfurt. Ekitike is the only unqualified success on this list