Liverpool’s most significant summer of spending? | OneFootball

It’s been a rollercoaster of a summer at Anfield. It’s only been a matter of a few short months since the Reds secured their second Premier League crown, but so much has happened since that fans would be forgiven for feeling like that title was a lifetime ago.

The summer of 2025 has been full of exciting transfer activity – record-breaking signings but also era-ending departures – and also terrible tragedy. As fans look towards the upcoming season, the usual excitement will, of course, be tinged with sadness. Many will take comfort in the return of regular football.

But it’s definitely worth pausing to consider the monumental transfer business the club have performed in the summer of 2025.

In fact, there has never been a summer quite like it. Here we take a look at the Reds’ incoming activity, considering just how much it has outstripped the club’s spending in any other Premier League summer.

The summer of 2025 – €308m and counting

There may have been some significant departures (with more to follow), and there is no doubting that the club’s ability to move on players such as Luis Diaz, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarrell Quansah and Tyler Morton for significant money has enabled Arne Slot to go big in the market.

And go big he has. And it doesn’t get much bigger than the club’s move for Florian Wirtz, the German star arriving for a reported €140 million, a club record.

And with Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong also arriving for serious money, Liverpool’s expenditure has breached the €300m mark for the very first time.

And with reports of Alexander Isak to follow, potentially for a fee higher than Wirtz’s, it promises to be one of the highest summer spends by one club ever.

Eddie Howe hardly provided any reassuring comments on the Swede’s future ahead of Newcastle’s opener.

The Magpies boss was quoted by Sky Sports: “I want him to play. I want him to train. I’ve had those conversations [with Isak] but the details of those will remain private.

“There is no change to the situation. All my focus has been on the training, Aston Villa and the transfer front in terms of getting players in – that is all-consuming for me. Alex’s situation has been unchanged for a while and that will continue to be the case.”

Yet with more departures mooted, and the club well within FFP limits, this unprecedented splurge has all been managed with a shrewdness that has come to be expected from the current owners.

This is perhaps one of the major reasons why those using sports betting apps are backing the Reds in unprecedented numbers for another Premier League title. Although, as we will see from these other summer spends, serious cash doesn’t necessarily equate to success.

The summer of 2024 – €42m

It’s all a very far cry from the summer of 2024 when the Reds’ outlay was a relatively measly €42m, with Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili and Juventus’ Federico Chiesa the only notable arrivals.

With Mamardashvili staying on with his Spanish team for another season, and Chiesa being only a bit-part player at best, it was hardly a summer that shifted the make-up of the team. Not that it mattered in the slightest as the Reds powered to the title the following May, just going to show that significant outlays in the transfer market are not necessarily a marker of success.

The summer of 2023 – €172m

The summer of 2023 was a significant one as then manager Jurgen Klopp refreshed his midfield to spectacular effect. Indeed, it was the club’s moves in this particular window that laid the foundation for the title win in 2025.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Callister and Ryan Gravenberch all arrived for significant sums and formed the major part of a total €172m outlay.

The summer of 2022 – €100m

Liverpool only just topped the €100m mark in the summer of 2022, mostly due to the arrival of Darwin Nunez for a reported €85m. Indeed, the club almost recouped the same amount by selling on Sadio Mane, Neco Williams and Takumi Minamino, among others.

The summer of 2021 – €40m

The only arrival for a fee in the summer of 2021 was Ibrahima Konate, with the Reds again almost claiming back the same amount by shifting on the likes of Harry Wilson and Taiwo Awoniyi. It is smart transfer window activity such as this that laid the financial groundwork to go big in the summer of 2025.

The summer of 2020 – €80.45m

In the summer that followed the club’s first Premier League title, a relatively large summer spend was mostly comprised of moves for Konstantinos Tsimikas, Thiago Alcantara and, poignantly, Diogo Jota, players who were all to play a significant part in helping the Reds secure more success over the following seasons.

The summer of 2019 – €1.9m

Famously, the summer that preceded the Reds’ dominant charge to their maiden Premier League crown was a frugal one. Sepp van den Berg was the only player to arrive for a fee. If ever there was proof that a settled side can be a successful side, this was it.

The Reds had, of course, just come off the back of a Champions League win, proving that the team was in place to go for glory the following season and didn’t require too much tinkering.

The summer of 2018 – €192m

A significant window for the Reds, and one that in no short part helped propel that title win of 2020. Alisson Becker was the marquee signing, briefly becoming the most expensive goalkeeper signing in history, and boy, has he proven to be worth it. Significant fees were also paid for Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri, players who also contributed tellingly over subsequent seasons.

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