Like the sound of this Debs. I wonder if people think:
Mane
Karius
Matip
Grujic
Zielinski
Dahoud
Chillwell/Robertson
Ings
Gomez
Would be enough to turn around our fortunes. I know some may question the last two but for me they're like new signings, neither has played a minute for Jürgen and I think both have big futures ahead for us. I would be happy with the positions we've targeted if the above is our business for this summer. Granted they're not household names but i'd have high hopes for Karius, Dahoud, Ings, Gomez, Mane and Matip to all make a lot of first team appearances between them.
Karius and Mane are first team ready and I think will grow into top class players with us (I'm almost sure of Karius will become a top GK in the EPL for some reason). Matip will be a great addition to the squad and I think should challenge Sakho and Lovren easily for those spots. Grujic, Zielinski, and Chilwell/Robertson I don't think can be counted on to make any significant differences, but hopefully can surprise a few and make differences when called upon with lots of room to grow.
Ings and Gomez I think will certainly be like new signings as long as they can come back where they left off. Especially Gomez who looked impenetrable before the injury (I think he can be a great #6 to be honest as well) so I'm actually very excited to see his return and hopeful that Klopp sees him as someone who can make a difference.
The big contingency here is whether we can sign Dahoud, or any other true first team ready CM (preferably a #6 or a #8) that can come in and make a big difference in a partnership with Emre Can. That's our current weak point where we really have had a huge gap since we lost Stevie. And I think Dahoud or someone similar would make a massive difference in our side and bring some box-to-box grit that Hendo and Milner just don't provide well enough.
I personally think we need a true #6 more than anything else still, just because I do not see Emre being disciplined or tactically intelligent enough to make a great defensive midfielder, but his versatility is still extremely valuable and I think he's got good potential in a 2 DM system. Just my opinion and I would encourage those who think otherwise to watch William Carvalho, Danilo Pereiera, Sergio Busquets, Sami Khedira, Daniele De Rossi, and others play that role. But I'm aware that won't happen regardless.
The thing that will make the biggest difference and what will really turn around our fortunes will be having Jürgen Klopp with half a season and a preseason under his belt and working with players that he himself brought in and can be molded in his vision. That will be significant for us and should be like a brand new breath of fresh air for us once again. I think if we bring those players (Dahoud included) in and with Klopp's time under his belt, we should be able to make a significant challenge for the top spot.
Logged