Rayan is already pulling Liverpool toward a rebuild, and Emile Heskey says the club has to start in the middle and at center-back. With Andoni Iraola taking over from Arne Slot at Anfield, he wants Liverpool to move quickly on two positions before the new era settles.
Heskey’s view is blunt. He said Liverpool need midfielders first, then a center-back to work alongside Virgil van Dijk, adding that the team has not been solid for a while. He also pointed to Alex Scott as the midfielder he would choose, with Adam Wharton another option, while Elliot Anderson “looks like he’s going to Man City.”
Heskey on Liverpool’s middle
“I think midfield is a key place that they need to add to,” Heskey said. He went further by calling center-back “another one of the most important places,” and set out the job in practical terms: “I think midfielders are the priority and then center-back, someone to work alongside Virgil van Dijk who makes us solid again because we haven't been.”
That comment lands at a point where Liverpool are hoping for a return to a more intense style of play under Iraola. Heskey said the playing style has been one of the main things supporters have been unhappy with, and he tied that dissatisfaction to the slow tempo he saw as a problem. He also said the club has been spoiled by Jurgen Klopp, which is why the change in shape and speed now carries extra weight.
Scott and Wharton in view
Heskey named Scott and Wharton as the midfield answers he sees most clearly. “I think I see Alex Scott being the one for midfield,” he said, before adding, “Adam Wharton would be another good one.” Those are specific names, but they also point to a broader need: Liverpool do not just need numbers, they need players who can raise the pace and the level in the center of the pitch.
That is where the rebuild gets sharper. Curtis Jones is attracting interest from Inter Milan, and Alexis Mac Allister has been linked with an exit, which leaves Liverpool weighing how much change they are prepared to make in one summer. Richard Hughes now has a transfer picture built around the spine of the team rather than a single addition on the margin.
Iraola era, summer pressure
Heskey also warned that these moves will not happen instantly. “We all know that these sorts of things don't happen straight away, do they?” he said, adding that Liverpool handled changes better last year by getting much of their work done early so the season could start properly. That leaves the current window with a simple task: fix the center of the side first, then decide how far the rest of the rebuild goes.
The practical question now is whether Liverpool act on that advice and turn the Iraola era into a midfield-and-center-back reset before the season gets underway. The club has a clear shortlist of areas to address, and Heskey has already named the kind of players he believes fit the brief.
