Richard Hughes' genius on display in £100m Liverpool masterclass | OneFootball

Richard Hughes has been given his flowers by a lot of Liverpool fans this summer for his work as the club's sporting director, making the big calls and securing well-negotiated deals for the Reds.

There are countless examples of his genius, be it the amount he secured for Jarell Quansah alongside a buy-back clause, the sell-on clause he got for Tyler Morton, the arrangement for Florian Wirtz's record-breaking transfer, the £65m Luis Diaz deal or the £25m move for Ben Doak, again with a buy-back clause. He's been rampant all summer and his ruthless style has been Box Office.

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But the over-arching project he's been overseeing is by far his greatest achievement, simply getting everything over the line that Arne Slot has wanted him to. The sheer amount of transfers has been mind-boggling and he - alongside the rest of the recruitment team - deserves a hell of a lot of credit.

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It's now been made clear just how well Hughes has done and the £100m arrangement he's agreed throughout the summer is nothing short of staggering when you look at it in the right context.

Hughes' genius transfer window

According to The Athletic's latest deal sheet, the Reds have pulled off an extraordinary feat.

In their report, it said: "Two summers ago, Chelsea spent nearly £400m on new players, accounting for 16 per cent of the division's total. Liverpool are not quite at that mark, though their current 13 per cent share will increase if they sign [Alexander] Isak.

"Liverpool's impressive sales this summer mean that their net spend is around £100m, significantly less than Manchester United and Arsenal, and around the same as Sunderland, Manchester City, Newcastle and Spurs. There's been plenty of intra-Premier League trading too, but even with Bournemouth recouping a net £111m, the division's total net spend sits beyond £1bn."

Of course, the £100m net spend is not just one deal, but the collaboration of a number of deals, but for the amount of quality Liverpool have signed to cost such a reasonable amount is remarkable.

Isak's potential arrival, alongside an approach for Marc Guehi would inevitable cause a significant change to the figure we're quoting right now, but with Harvey Elliott and others still to be moved on, the Reds are unlikely to see their net spend break £200m which makes this summer a huge success.

Three goalkeepers, two full-backs, a centre-back (potentially two), two strikers and a midfielder have all made their way through the door, bolstering the academy and upgrading Arne Slot's squad.

A few teething issues still remain with the team in terms of tactical understanding and depth, but when everything is all said and done, you can't help but feel in awe of what Hughes has created.

Liverpool are primed to deliver a really solid run at defending the title and that's a real achievement.