This season, Jurgen Klopp and his team will undoubtedly seek to regain their Premier League and Champions League crowns while also mounting a successful defence of their domestic cups. They will embark on this journey without several members of last season's group, including club legend Sadio Mane and cult hero Divock Origi.
Though Klopp has added to his armoury with the signings of Darwin Nunez from Benfica, Fabio Carvalho from Fulham, and Calvin Ramsay from Aberdeen, there are multiple gaps he needs to fill in the squad, especially if he hopes to achieve the elusive English quadruple.
To fill those gaps, Liverpool can look to 16 returning loanees, among which three standout players can make a difference this season:
Nathaniel Phillips joined Liverpool's academy in the summer of 2016, rejecting a scholarship from the University of North Carolina to chase his football dreams. Though he regularly trained with the first team, he only appeared for the Liverpool reserves.
In search of first-team playing time, he secured a loan move to VFB Stuttgart in the 2019/2020 season. There he rounded out his development, developing into an excellent reader of the game who can make good passes when in possession of the ball.
The 25-year-old came into the limelight in the 2020/2021 season after injuries to several first-team centre-backs. Phillips' performance that season was impressive enough to garner several admirers, especially from the English top flight.
In January 2022, he joined Bournemouth on loan for the remainder of the season. He was a crucial part in them securing promotion, starting 19 games, and keeping eight clean sheets.
If Liverpool can keep hold of the Englishman this summer despite interest from several clubs, they will be getting an excellent squad player who can serve as a long-term replacement to an injury-prone Joel Matip.
Dutch rising star Sepp van den Berg moved to Liverpool from Eredivise club, PEC Zwolle, in June 2019 for a potential fee of €4.5 million.
The defender carries the weight of future expectations for both Liverpool and the Netherlands national team.
So far, he is living up to the hype, displaying skills and qualities that made him highly touted as an academy player.
Van den Berg made his Liverpool debut in a September 2019 EFL Cup tie against MK Dons. He earned his first start a month later, also in an EFL cup win, this time against Arsenal.
The 20-year-old centre-back has spent the last 18 months on loan in the Championship with Preston North End and has put up some impressive displays. His pace, agility, strength, and passing made him a mainstay in the club's starting XI as he featured 65 times for Preston over the course of the previous season as well as the season before that.
Most scouts believe Van den Berg is the long-term successor to Virgil Van Dijk at the club. If retained this season, he will get to learn firsthand from his supposed predecessor and provide the depth at centre-back that Liverpool sometimes lacks.
Another defender awaiting his first-team breakthrough is Neco Williams. The Welsh international is a promising star that emerged from Liverpool's academy.
Since age six, Williams has progressed steadily through the youth ranks of Wales and Liverpool.
However, the fullback has struggled to usurp Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson in the first team.
The 21-year-old is a regular in Wales' national team and will be looking to cement his place in the squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Though he may seek required game time elsewhere, he possesses several qualities that can be invaluable to Klopp this season.
Like the Liverpool assist king, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Williams loves getting forward and finding teammates with pinpoint crosses. His pace and defensive abilities are also significant assets in his locker.
More appealing, however, is his versatility. In addition to his ability to operate as a right-back or left-back, Williams can feature as a winger or even play in central midfield, as he has recently done for Wales and Fulham.
And with new arrival Calvin Ramsay lacking necessary Premier League experience, it will be unwise for Klopp to discard the Welshman without first giving him a consistent run in his side.
