There are now exactly three weeks to go until Liverpool takes on Chelsea in its opening match of the new Premier League season. While the Reds are far from the only side with plenty of work to do, Jürgen Klopp's team does not have loads of time left to prepare and get new signings over the line.
While the transfer deadline is not until the end of August, Liverpool would obviously want to get everything sorted before then in an ideal world. Until the shock news that both Fabinho and Jordan Henderson were departing, that was looking to be on track.
Now, though, Liverpool is going to have to get a move on. Without Fabinho, it does not have a natural holding midfielder who is currently fit and available, with 18-year-old Stefan Bajčetić still making his way back to full fitness after the injury that ended his breakout season last March.
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"There are so many things to do," Klopp said on the We Are Liverpool podcast, which came out this weekend. "The transfer window is open. If my day would have 28 hours at the moment it would not be a problem — I could fill them easily!
"With all the things you have to do left and right, my main focus and energy has to go into the training sessions then that's what I do. Then either side of the sessions I can try to help with other stuff.
"Still three-and-a-half weeks until the first game of the season. A few things have to happen before then, definitely, transfer market-wise as well. That is clear now. And it will happen. New players have to come in. We will have a good team."
The plan is very much clear and Liverpool has been looking at a variety of midfield players. The question is now which one(s) will be picked to make sure that there are enough numbers in the center of the pitch.
One player that is admired is Roméo Lavia, and that was the case even before interest in Fabinho and Henderson emerged. Valued at $64m (£50m/€58m) by Southampton, the 19-year-old is available for the right price.
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![Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.](https://i2-prod.liverpoolecho.co.uk/incoming/article28219150.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0_GettyImages-1748470251.jpg)
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But signing Lavia alone would be a risk given his youth and inexperience. Bringing in a more established option alongside the Belgian would surely be a sensible idea.
After the midfield is sorted out, Liverpool still then needs to find a left-sided center-back, with it unclear at the moment whether or not a deal for Levi Colwill is possible. Chelsea continues to insist that it isn't going to lose the highly-rated defender.
In that case, it would be a gamble for Liverpool to enter the new season without signing another center-back, with question marks hanging over both Joël Matip and Joe Gomez, who both favor playing on the right.
At least two signings, then, and in an ideal world three, would be brought to Anfield before the deadline. At least one of those midfield additions would ideally be brought in during the coming week, with enough time to settle before the trip to Stamford Bridge.
There is plenty of time left for deals to be done, but with the clock ticking down toward the fixture with Chelsea, the quicker the right signings can be made, the better.