Liverpool Fans: Don’t Fret Over Summer Transfer Window

Let me explain. Of course, Liverpool needs to heavily invest this summer; that goes without saying. After a disappointing season and an unacceptable summer transfer window last year, the club needs to take serious steps in the coming weeks to put them in a position to compete on four fronts in the 2023-24 season.

With Jude Bellingham securing his big-money move to Madrid and Kylian Mbappé now reportedly up for sale, Liverpool supporters may be clamoring for a high-caliber player with an exorbitant transfer fee.

Missing out on Bellingham after being attached to him for years, and even passing over players to prepare for an impending move, was an obvious failure and uncharacteristic mismanagement by the club. Yet, spreading the wealth on multiple players this summer seems to be the logical step albeit a self-inflicted symptom of their strategy.

All of that frustration aside, there are a few instances that indicate that signing multiple players in the £30-50M range may be the way forward for Liverpool.

First of all, take a look at this list of the 10 most expensive summer signings in Premier League history curated by The Athletic.

Notably, Liverpool is absent from this list despite all their success over the past several years.

Additionally, how many of those players have become bonafide Premier League stars? Sure, Jack Grealish had a successful campaign this past year and was part of a historic treble-winning side, but will he end up being worth the £100M fee? Lukaku’s second stint at Chelsea hasn’t panned out, Pogba never stayed consistent at Manchester United, Antony has yet to live up to his fee, Harry Maguire was 4th or 5th choice CB last season, Sancho has yet to reclaim the form he enjoyed at Dortmund, Kai Havertz did help win the Champions League for Chelsea but has been lackluster aside from his famous match-winning goal (Chelsea fans may argue that alone is worth the price), it’s early for Fofana but Chelsea are currently a mess and Nicolas Pepe never managed to make an impact for Arsenal.

Moral of the story? Expensive price tags do not correlate to success on the pitch.

Liverpool have never really been known to spend heavily on a single player. Their creativity in the transfer window has been admired in Europe. Two of their most expensive signings, Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson Becker, came off the back of Philippe Coutinho’s record transfer to Barcelona. Despite inflated reports last summer, Darwin Nunez’s initial fee was only £64.1 million with the potential to rise.

Many current stars in the squad emerged after shrewd investment and development. Andrew Robertson only cost £8M from a relegated Hull City and has become one of the best LBs in Europe. Mo Salah has already become as a Premier League legend and cost £36.9M. Luis Diaz was relatively cheap at £37M and was a huge part of Liverpool’s domestic cup success in 2022.

With a few exceptions, Liverpool generally take the route of developing stars rather than inserting them into the side right away. When they can make an instant impact on the team like Luis Diaz, all the better.

Don’t get it twisted. Last season was unacceptable. It was Liverpool’s worst season under Klopp and the club will need to spend money. But they’ve already secured Alexis Mac Allister, a World Cup winner and breakout star for Brighton, for just £35M. A bargain.

Securing Mac Allister was a great start to the summer but more will need to be done. Liverpool need more reinforcements in midfield and Khéphren Thuram is looking increasingly likely to head to Merseyside.

There will undoubtedly be moments this summer when a club like Newcastle or Manchester United sign a player that Liverpool fans would want to see at Anfield. And while Klopp and Jorg Schmadtke will need to get this window spot on, there is reason to be optimistic heading into the summer with new signings on the way and a rejuvenated healthy squad ready to crack on.