Liverpool’s 2024 was clearly divided into two halves.
The former saw the close of Jurgen Klopp’s transformative and trophy-laden spell with the Reds. The German was last adoring the Anfield crowd in May, with his side running out of steam at the end of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
Klopp’s successor endured a remarkably tough task, tasked with galvanizing a group mourning the loss of their leader. Arne Slot was the manager identified by Liverpool’s recruitment team as the perfect candidate to rebuild on incredible foundations.
This has proved an inspired decision. The first half of the 2024/25 campaign has been truly exceptional for Liverpool, who lost just once under their new Dutch boss last year.
While 2025 promises to be an even more tempting year for Liverpool supporters, let’s think back to the best of 2024 for the Reds.
Liverpool have boasted a wide variety of the world’s biggest stars over the past decade and many have stood out in 2024. Virgil van Dijk enjoyed a resurgent year, Alisson remains the best goalkeeper on the planet when he is in form and Alexis Mac Allister instantly wowed Anfield with a string of stellar displays.
However, there is no doubt that, once again, Mohamed Salah he was the Reds’ standout performer last year. The relentless Egyptian produced remarkably consistent performances for Liverpool and could end the current campaign with the best tally of his career if he maintains his incredibly high standards under Slot in the second half of the season.
His longevity is exceptional and so is his durability, although he still offers the scorching pace and dynamic left foot that have usually seen him top Liverpool’s goalscoring charts.
Many have improved markedly since Slot’s arrival, but none have been completely surprised Ryan Gravenberch. The classy but inconsistent Dutchman had traveled to Merseyside at the start of Klopp’s final campaign but found it a challenge to adapt to the physicality and energy of the Premier League.
Slot molding Gravenberch into an excellent defensive midfielder wouldn’t have been on many people’s 2024 bingo card, but he did. The 22-year-old has flourished while anchoring Liverpool’s engine room, answering the club’s dire need for a new number six.
Loud shouts should be heard for Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz when it comes to the most improved Liverpool in 2024, but Gravenberch’s transformation has been too amazing to ignore.
The end of Klopp’s reign was full of feel-good stories about Liverpool’s academy prospects. Injuries meant the club’s youngsters were given numerous opportunities to shine and most made a positive first impression on the Anfield faithful.
While Jarell Quansah also shone for Liverpool’s first team, emerging from relative anonymity and a short loan spell in Ligue 1, he was a right-back. Conor Bradley who else was loved by fans in 2024.
After a season-long loan at Bolton Wanderers in which he was named the club’s Player of the Year for the 2022/23 season, the Northern Irishman was immediately given first-team opportunities at Liverpool. Filling Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shoes is no easy task, but the 21-year-old did a very impressive job.
More reminiscent of Andy Robertson than Liverpool’s number 66, Bradley enjoyed a hugely successful year, and has now racked up almost 40 appearances and a few assists for the Reds.
Surprise, surprise. it is salah who provided the most strikes for Liverpool last year, a common feat achieved by the 32-year-old.
Salah scored 29 goals in 44 games for Liverpool in 2024, a tally bettered by only six players in Europe’s top five leagues and only Erling Haaland in the Premier League.
The Reds talisman endured a slow end to last term by his lofty standards, but has burst into life at the start of Slot’s reign. 20 of those 29 strikes have come this term, 17 of which have come in the Premier League.
Last year, Liverpool were very quiet in the transfer market. In fact, they made just two senior signings, with only Federico Chiesa, who signed from Juventus for £12.5m in the summer, having been spotted in a red shirt.
Arguably Liverpool’s most exciting signing is yet to play for his new club, with the summer signing Giorgi Mamardashvili having been returned on loan to Valencia for the current campaign. The Georgian goalkeeper is one of the best young players in the game and looks like a natural heir to Alisson’s throne with his excellent reflex saves and impressive distribution.
If Liverpool continue on their current trajectory, there will be plenty of moments competing to be the best of 2025. However, there is one standout moment from last year.
Liverpool claimed their latest piece of silverware under Klopp in February. winning the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea. Van Dijk’s 118th-minute header secured a famous victory for a youthful Liverpool side, defeating the ‘Billion Pound Bottle’.
While Liverpool would have hoped to send Klopp off with more silverware, such a dramatic triumph was a fitting last hurray for the legendary Reds boss.
