More incomings are expected, as well as outgoings, with Iraola keen to assess the current squad over the coming weeks. The academy players have already returned, while highly-rated 15-year-old Josh Abe will also travel to America for the pre-season tour.
From Liverpool’s World Cup contingent of eight, only Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina) and Munoz (Spain) are still at the tournament – so Iraola will benefit from largely having a full squad at his disposal for most of pre-season.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Joe Gomez, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Curtis Jones, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Kostas Tsimikas are all due back next week.
Harvey Elliott, after a disappointing loan spell at Aston Villa, has already returned and met Iraola on Tuesday.
Jeremy Jacquet, who Liverpool signed from Rennes in a deal worth £60m, has joined up this week to help his acclimatisation. The French centre-back has successfully completed a rehabilitation programme following a shoulder injury and is expected to play a part in pre-season.
The likes of captain Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak were all eliminated in the round-of-32 and are expected to join up with the squad after their time off, when Liverpool depart for their pre-season tour of USA on July 20 – a day after the World Cup final.
With Brazil losing to Norway in the round-of-16, Alisson Becker is also expected to join up later on, while a few of the players who have been in rehabilitation, such as Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Wataru Endo have already been at the training ground over the summer.
Hugo Ekitike, another long-term absentee, has spent time working with a physiotherapist in Los Angeles as he makes progress on his recovery from his Achilles injury. The Frenchman is planning to report for sessions with Liverpool’s medical department before the start of the season.
One of Iraola’s priorities will be to determine whether Jacquet or Leoni are ready to start regularly alongside Virgil van Dijk once the season begins. Liverpool firmly believe in the potential of 20-year-old Jacquet and 19-year-old Leoni but it will be an immense ask to instantly be regulars at Premier League level.
Leoni’s debut at Anfield last season was ruined by an anterior cruciate ligament injury and while no date has been set on his return, the belief is that he will be able to play a part in pre-season at some point.
As it stands, Iraola has a press conference scheduled in Chicago that will take place on July 21, with Liverpool’s first friendly then taking place against Sunderland on July 25 in Nashville before games against Wrexham in New York and Leeds in Chicago.
The Reds will then conclude their pre-season with two fixtures at Anfield, hosting AS Monaco from Ligue 1 and Como 1907 from Serie A, who are managed by Cesc Fabregas.
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