Liverpool: Why Arne Slot Faces Biggest Test After £300m Spending Spree

Liverpool boss Arne Slot comes into the new season with a very different picture from the one he took over 12 months before.

The Dutchman's maiden campaign finished in triumph, leading the Reds to their 20th top-flight title with a 10-point lead and four games remaining.

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But the low-key appointment which replaced Jürgen Klopp's shock departure has already been replaced by stratospheric expectations.

Slot's initial season saw him work with a similar basic set of players as Klopp left behind, getting results from wise leadership and tactical ingenuity. The summer, however, has presented him with £300m worth of surgery to the team — and with it, increased pressure on his ability to continue to keep Liverpool as an elite force.

"I don't think Slot is the kind of manager to get too fussed about pressure," said Liverpool and England former midfielder Danny Murphy.

"He looks very calm. He looks as if he's very articulate and knows how to handle different situations."

Liverpool's spending spree has been nothing short of astronomical.

Florian Wirtz, one of the brightest young stars in Europe, was signed from Bayer Leverkusen for £116m. Full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong in aggregate cost £70m, while Eintracht Frankfurt brought in striker Hugo Ekitike on a deal that could rise to £70m.

Teenage centre-back Giovanni Leoni has also been contracted for £26m, with Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi and Newcastle £150m-rated striker Alexander Isak remaining possible signings.

The other side is the big exits — Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid on a free, Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, Darwin Nunez to Al-Hilal, and Jarell Quansah to Leverkusen. All the turnover has left Liverpool looking a work in progress, as shown in a rough Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace.

This season, Liverpool are not hunters — they are the hunted. Title contenders Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have strengthened to ensure last season's one-horse race does not recur.

There has been a shift in mood at Anfield from cautious optimism to a demand for hardware.

"Expectation has changed, no doubt, at Liverpool there is always expectation anyway, but now he has won the league and played most of the football this season fantastically," Murphy stated.

"That upper echelon is set by Slot now, and an expectation in some fashion, but there is also a reality around a collection of new players."

Slot's predicament is how to fit the big-money signings in without disrupting the harmony of last season. Wirtz's talent offers the solution, but his introduction has the potential to disrupt last season's successful midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

"I think Liverpool fans, and maybe even Slot himself, will be aware that you might get some bumps along the way because you are talking about seriously young players coming in into an environment they have never been used to," Murphy said.

"It is not the same kind of pressure at Leverkusen or Frankfurt."

Slot's coolness was the hallmark of last term, even in defeats to PSG in the Champions League and Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final. Consistency won him hearts on the Kop, with the supporters sure to rally behind him through early teething issues.

"Liverpool fans likely didn't expect what happened last season," Murphy said.

"If the season doesn't get off to a great start, they will be right there behind Slot because they know what he is capable of. He has so much credit in the bank. He barely made a mistake in his first season."