It's been a busy summer thus far for Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool.
Danny Ings, Adam Bogdan, Joe Gomez, Roberto Firmino and James Milner have all arrived, Brad Jones, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Marc Pelosi and Jordan Lussey have all departed, and two young, promising talents have signed new deals.
Goalkeeper Danny Ward is one of the latter, and the other is a certain Andre Wisdom.
When Wisdom embarked on a season-long loan with West Bromwich Albion at the beginning of the campaign, at 21-years-old, he must have known the year that lay ahead was a make-or-break one for him as a Liverpool player.
He was at the age at which players are either released and thanked for their time and effort, or bumped up into the first-team squad after years of hard work.
However, his performances with West Brom hardly justified the latter occurring.
Wisdom disappointing on loan at Baggies
Wisdom played 24 games for the club in the Premier League this season, starting in 22 of these and completing 90 minutes on 21 occasions. The majority of his minutes (19 starts, 19 full 90 minutes) came under Alan Irvine's charge, and when he lost his job at the end of 2014, Wisdom's chances dried up.
He played the full 90 minutes in caretaker manager Rob Kelly's sole game in charge, but appeared just five times in the final 15 games of the season under Tony Pulis, playing two full games, starting another but only playing an hour, then coming on as a substitute twice towards the end of the campaign after nine games on the sidelines.
Whilst performances against Burnley, Aston Villa and Hull City highlighted Wisdom's potential, showings against Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United showed exactly why he has been afforded few chances with his parent club.
The former saw him demonstrate his tactical discipline as well as his attacking prowess, the full-back bombing up and down his flank brilliantly to average six defensive actions in these games, whilst also creating three chances. His Liverpool roots shone too, with his composure in possession obviously evident and his own battling personality was shown as he won 75 per cent of his duels on the pitch.
However, against Spurs and Newcastle, one was reminded of Wisdom's youth and inexperience. Just 80 per cent of his passes were accurate, only six defensive actions were made over both games as he committed himself too much to going forward, and no chances were created. On top of this, he won only 11 per cent of his duels over the two games in a couple of very sloppy performances.
The Spurs game saw him dropped to the bench for nine games, with him returning for 20 minutes against Crystal Palace but only featuring for six minutes in the remaining five games of the season.
Liverpool still lacking at the back
Overall, the loan spell started brightly, but tailed off, so why was the 22-year-old given a new four-year deal this summer?
Liverpool's defensive situation is quite frankly dire at the moment. In the squad, as well as Wisdom, Liverpool have right-backs Jon Flanagan and Javier Manquillo; centre-backs Martin Skrtel, Kolo Toure, Dejan Lovren, Sebastian Coates, Mamadou Sakho, Gomez and Tiago Ilori, and left-backs Jose Enrique and Alberto Moreno.
Of these, Flanagan is injured, Manquillo has not played since February, Toure is more of a squad player, Lovren had a 2014/15 to forget, Ilori is yet to play for the club since signing in 2013, Coates hardly stopped the world in his season-long loan at Sunderland and Enrique has not played since January.
Sakho is arguably the side's best defender, Skrtel was their best this season though as his French teammate struggled wth injuries, it's unclear yet how Gomez will do in his first year with the club and Moreno, whilst he has potential, is not a finished article.
With Johnson having left the club this summer, it is believed that Wisdom is to step up and replace him as Emre Can shifts into midfield to replace Gerrard.
Yet, as aforementioned, Wisdom has hardly earned such a role in the team based on his first senior season. When Pulis dropped him, West Brom improved rapidly at the back, conceding fewer goals without than with him as Craig Dawson was far more committed to his defensive responsibilities and rarely caught out as a result.
If Wisdom was incapable of securing a place at West Brom, how does Rodgers believe he can become a regular at Liverpool?
He is clearly not a complete full-back yet, unable to assist both getting back and going forward, unlike the players Rodgers has been reportedly targeting such as Nathaniel Clyne and Kieran Trippier. In fact, even Manquillo does both jobs better than Wisdom at the moment, the Spaniard having showed marvellous promise when given the chance this season but harshly sidelined when Rodgers changed his formation.
The Atletico Madrid loanee certainly deserves a chance with the Reds in the final year of his temporary contract, but with Wisdom signing a new deal, that may have altered his chances for the worse.
Still, Wisdom has played as a centre-back often during his career, and perhaps this is what Rodgers sees him as being, as opposed to a full-back. With Toure, Skrtel and Sakho being Liverpool's best options there at the moment, Wisdom can add depth in this role, as well as new signing Gomez, who can also play as a right or centre-back.
The player also has great confidence, not to be mistook for arrogance, in his ability and is a very hard-worker. He's ambitious and keen to earn his place in the team, stating that Rodgers' feedback throughout the past season has made him "want to keep progressing," with the defender even adding that he has "hopefully" convinced the manager he can "be part of the future" in his squad.
The youngster has stated that it is his "dream" to "be in the Liverpool first team" and this shows that he is willing to fight for a place and really work hard.
Wisdom can still make something for himself at Anfield
There is promise in the player. He has shown glimpses of his potential to become a complete full-back, but needs to add consistency to his game. His attacking contributions need to step up too, with them coming every so often as opposed to every game.
Whilst he is certainly a step up from Johnson defensively, able to time tackles well and use his strength to win challenges, he is perhaps not the same going forward, with Johnson able to whip in a good cross and use his pace to burst into the box, even during his worst spells.
Given his determined personality, perhaps competition for a place can bring the best out of Wisdom. Gomez is a good signing, but Rodgers needs to acquire a out-and-out full-back, such as Clyne, who will be first-choice, and then allow Wisdom to battle for game time with him.
Of course, the player should be given chances in pre-season to show what he can do both on the right and in the centre of defence, but, for now, but his role should probably be that of a back-up right-back, with him lacking the experience and all-round game to start every week for a Liverpool side targeting the top four.