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Arne Slot has been cautioned that it will "take months" to fully bed in all of Liverpool's summer acquisitions, as the Reds' summer spending spree continues to underwhelm on the pitch.
Liverpool has suffered defeat in six of its past seven Premier League fixtures, slipping into the bottom half of the table, with its title defence in ruins before the likes of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz have found their rhythm in Slot's new system.
Following Slot's decision to bring in only Federico Chiesa during his opening two transfer windows, the Reds altered their approach and recruited 10 new players in the summer. However, of those signings, only forward Hugo Ekitike has resembled anything close to the player the Reds anticipated when they paid up to £79 million ($103.9 million) to secure the Frenchman from Frankfurt.
Ekitike is Liverpool's leading scorer this season with six goals across all competitions, but Isak has managed just one goal in nine outings since his British record £125 million ($164.4 million) switch from Newcastle, while Wirtz has yet to get off the mark for the Reds, contributing two assists in the Champions League.
Alongside those new additions, left-back Milos Kerkez has endured a difficult spell since arriving from Bournemouth, and right-back Jeremie Frimpong has sustained two hamstring injuries, which have hindered his development.
Veteran Premier League manager Sam Allardyce believes that the Reds may have undergone too many changes over the summer. He suggests it will take Slot even more time to get his new signings up to speed.
“Is this a case of too much transition in one season?" Allardyce told the Footy Accumulators 'No Tippy Tappy Football' podcast, in partnership with BOYLE Sports.
"You’ve got the opposite last year when everyone thought they’ll have no chance of winning the league because they’ve only signed one player, and Arne Slot coming in with a team that’s familiar with itself, that knows themselves, and he inherited that magnificently well.
“Now it’s a transition, and he clearly has asked for that transition to happen, and the amount of money that’s available to Liverpool on the basis of what they’ve built up over the years, particularly last year, with only signing one player, meant there was a big pot there, and they went into the market by signing quality players.
“The integration of a new player is difficult, but the integration of many players is very, very difficult. It will take months.
"This is not an overnight situation, to know how your players partner up.
"Players who are there at the moment are looking at the new players, and footballers are very good at not blaming themselves.
"Now it’s down to Arne Slot to deal with the toughest time he’s going to have.'
Liverpool will be welcoming PSV Eindhoven for a Champions League match on Wednesday evening.
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