Liverpool 2027: Iraola Shapes a New Era as Key Players Exit
Andoni Iraola hasn’t been at Anfield long, but the outlines of his Liverpool are already clear – and they look nothing like the team that carried the club through the last decade.
One glance at Wataru Endo’s situation tells you where this is heading.
The 33-year-old did not play a single minute in the Carabao Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur. He has yet to make an appearance under Iraola and was left out of Liverpool’s Champions League squad altogether. His contract runs out at the end of the season. Every sign points in the same direction.
Iraola likes him. He has said so.
“Wata lost quite a lot of the pre-season,” the head coach explained. “He is still not at his best but he is training very well. The problem is in front of him in his position I have a lot of players. He is competing against a lot of players.
“We are giving minutes to Trey, Ryan, Alexis and Dom, players that I am selecting right now. But Wata is definitely a player that I like and for sure he will have his moments.”
The words were kind. The team sheet was brutal.
Against Spurs, Trey Nyoni and James McConnell both started ahead of Endo, flanking Alexis Mac Allister in midfield. When Iraola turned to his bench, it was Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch who got the call, not the Japan international.
The pattern is the same elsewhere. Lewis Koumas has surged past Federico Chiesa in the attacking hierarchy. Youth is being trusted. Fringe seniors are being parked.
Endo already found minutes hard to come by under Arne Slot. Under Iraola, that door looks even closer to shut. He turns 34 in February, and while he is currently due to leave on a free at the end of the campaign, reports this week suggested Liverpool could cash in during January to bank a final fee. Whether it’s mid-season or summer, a split now feels inevitable.
And he is far from alone.
Big names, big decisions
As things stand, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas all reach the end of their contracts next summer. On paper, all four walk away as free agents alongside Endo. Back-up goalkeeper Harvey Davies is also listed as out of contract.
That does not mean every one of them will definitely depart, but the clock is ticking loudly on a core that has defined an era.
Ronald Araujo’s season-long loan from Barcelona will also expire in 2027. Liverpool hold a £47m option to buy the Uruguay defender, a clause that could anchor the next version of their back line if activated.
While those dilemmas loom, three deals for 2027 are already done.
The next wave already signed
Liverpool’s first confirmed arrival is Djylian N’Guessan. The Reds agreed a €5m fee with Saint-Etienne for the forward, who will officially become a Liverpool player in January. For now, the 18-year-old stays on loan at Stade Brest, finishing his Ligue 1 season before physically linking up with Iraola’s squad.
Lucca Brughmans is also on the way. Liverpool have struck a £30m agreement with KRC Genk for the Belgian goalkeeper. He is due to see out the campaign in Belgium, though the club do have the option to bring him to Anfield in January if they choose.
Samuel Martinez completes the trio. The Colombian playmaker will join from Atletico Nacional in a £750,000 move once he turns 18 next year.
There is also a potential return on the horizon. Liverpool hold a £55m option to re-sign Jarell Quansah from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2027. The ECHO understands the England centre-half has already agreed personal terms on an Anfield contract, should the club decide to trigger that clause.
Loanees coming back into the picture
Harvey Elliott will rejoin Liverpool next summer after his season-long loan at Valencia. His deal at Anfield runs until 2028, and he looks a natural fit for Iraola’s high-energy style.
Ifeanyi Ndukwe, now eligible for a work permit after making his debut for Levante, is another intriguing piece. Liverpool can recall the Austrian defender in January; if they don’t, he will complete the season in La Liga before reporting back to Merseyside.
Armin Pecsi and Kieran Morrison are due back from spells at TSV Hartberg and Sheffield Wednesday. Calvin Ramsay, by contrast, will move on as a free agent when his loan at St Mirren ends, with that stint overlapping the final year of his Liverpool contract.
Calum Scanlon and Keyrol Figueroa are out for the season at Cardiff City and Port Vale. Amara Nallo, Kornel Misciur and Kyle Kelly are on shorter loans at HJK, Leek Town and Forest Green Rovers until the new year.
Goalkeeper Fabian Mrozek is at FC Cincinnati, where the MLS club hold an option to sign him permanently.
All of them feed into a bigger registration puzzle that will define how Iraola’s squad looks on paper in 2026/27.
No longer kids on the list
From next season, any player born before 1 January 2006 must be registered in Liverpool’s Premier League and European squads to be eligible.
That pushes Jeremy Jacquet, Lewis Koumas, Pecsi and Michael Laffey out of the Under-21 bracket, with Scanlon and Kelly in the same boat. They now occupy senior slots if the club want to use them.
The homegrown picture is equally important.
Conor Bradley, Elliott, McConnell, Koumas, Vitezslav Jaros, Freddie Woodman and Jeremie Frimpong are all under contract for 2026/27 and count towards the homegrown quota. The first five qualify as club-trained in Europe, with Woodman and Frimpong listed as academy-trained.
Luke Chambers, Scanlon, Kaide Gordon, Isaac Mabaya, Owen Beck, Laffey and Kelly would all need registering too if they remain at the club. Gomez and Davies, as things stand, leave on frees, while Transfermarkt lists Chambers and Gordon as out of contract as well.
Non-homegrown squeeze
Right now Liverpool occupy all 17 non-homegrown slots for 2026/27. That will ease if Van Dijk, Alisson, Endo and Tsimikas do not sign new deals. Araujo returning to Barcelona would free another place if Liverpool decide against the £47m option.
Chiesa looks the likeliest high-profile casualty. His deal runs until 2028, but he has never been more than a fringe figure at Anfield. A move away would surprise nobody.
Questions also hover over Mac Allister. The Argentina international has spoken publicly about being told the club are not currently in a position to offer him a new contract. Cody Gakpo’s name will resurface in rumour columns too after interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City almost took him out of Liverpool in the summer. Giorgi Mamardashvili has been linked with a departure as well.
Ndukwe and Brughmans, despite their age, complicate the European picture. They will still count as Under-21s for the Premier League and so would not need to be registered domestically. For UEFA competitions, though, they must occupy senior List A spots because they are not eligible for List B.
Strip the scenario back to the basics: assume all out-of-contract players leave and Liverpool sign Araujo permanently. In that case, Iraola would have 15 senior non-homegrown players, with Jacquet and Pecsi now too old to sit on the Under-21 list.
Ndukwe and Brughmans could then logically slot into the final two European berths.
But this is only the bare minimum. More business – both in and out – is inevitable.
The 2026/27 skeleton
On that conservative basis, Liverpool’s potential 2026/27 squad currently shapes up like this:
- Goalkeepers: Mamardashvili, Woodman (homegrown), Jaros (homegrown), Pecsi, Brughmans (Under-21)*.
- Defenders: Jacquet, Kerkez, Bradley (homegrown), Leoni (Under-21), Frimpong (homegrown), Araujo, Scanlon (homegrown), Beck (homegrown), Ndukwe (Under-21)*.
- Midfielders: Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Elliott (homegrown), Gravenberch, Nyoni (Under-21), McConnell (homegrown).
Layer in the forwards, the returning loanees and the youngsters pushing through, and the picture becomes even more crowded, even more ruthless.
What is clear already is the direction of travel. The old guard are running out of contract. The academy and recruitment department are flooding the pathway with teenagers and early-20s talent. Iraola is siding with the future every time he fills in a team sheet.
By the time 2026/27 kicks off, Liverpool may barely resemble the side that walked into this season. The only real question now is which of today’s big names are still standing when that new era finally starts.
