Arne Slot says he is unconcerned by the lack of signings since he took charge of Liverpool, stating that he and his recruitment team are waiting for the right players to sign this summer.
Liverpool are yet to add any players to a squad who have flown to the United States without their top international stars for pre-season matches starting against Real Betis in Pittsburgh on Friday.
“The first aim is to work with these players," Slot told the club's official website ahead of his first match in charge. "Of course, it's a disadvantage that many of them are not here yet [because of the EURO 2024 and Copa America] - I mean the players that are already under contract.
"The positive about that is that it's an important lifeline of the club that youngsters come into the team as well, so it's an ideal way of seeing them in these weeks, where they get a lot of playing time as well.
"The standards are really high when it comes to bringing in new players because we have such a good team and such a good squad. Of course, Richard [Hughes, the sporting director] and me and other people as well are trying to improve the squad where possible, but that's not that easy because we have so many good players.
See: Slot's press conference in full
“The first [reason] is me wanting to assess the squad, which is difficult because most of them are still not here. And the second one also has to do with the difficulty [that] if you inherited a team that is really good, then it's not so easy to find players that are of the same standards or even higher, especially because those ones need to be available as well.
"We already have a very good team I'm already really happy with. But it would be a surprise for all of us I think if we don't bring any player in, so that will probably happen in the end. But for now, we are just waiting for the players to come back and waiting for the right ones to sign."
Asked if his existing players are good enough to challenge for the goals that have been set for this season, Slot said: "I think the answer lies in last season, where I think five, six, seven games before the end they were still competing with Arsenal and [Manchester] City. So there you have your answer: they are good enough to compete."
Robertson to miss matches in US
Liverpool’s international stars are beginning to return, with Diogo Jota joining the squad on Friday, while Ryan Gravenberch and Ibrahima Konate will be the next players to join the tour.
But left-back Andrew Roberton will be unable to play in Liverpool’s four matches in the US.
“He is not fully fit yet,” said Slot. “But we are expecting him in the end of the tour – maybe just after the tour – to be fully fit again.
“He took a small injury into the Euros and afterwards he had to recover from that after playing those games. But we will expect him back after our tour – but he joined us over here.”
