The 5 most expensive Liverpool departures of all-time
By Evan Curnew
As we wind down to the end of the season, the focus shifts to the summer transfer window, the busiest time of the year for transfer news. Throughout the Premier League era, Liverpool has been on both sides of the expensive transfer coin, buying players for large sums of money but also selling players for large sums of money. Who have been the most expensive departures from Anfield in Liverpool's history?
The 5 most expensive Liverpool departures of all-time
The list is based on the base fee reported at the time of the transfers.
1. Philippe Coutinho - £142 million
Liverpool's far and away most expensive departure was Philippe Coutinho's to Barcelona in January 2018. After Barcelona lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017, they turned to Liverpool to find a replacement for Neymar.
After moving from Brazil to Inter in 2008, Coutinho spent multiple seasons pushing himself into the Inter team but never becoming a regular. After a recommendation from former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who briefly coached Coutinho at Inter, the Reds signed the Brazilian in the winter of 2013.
Coutinho would play six seasons with Liverpool, including being the club's Player of the Season twice and being named to the PFA Team of the Season for the 2014-15 season. Unfortunately, Coutinho could never win a trophy with Liverpool, but ultimately, his transfer away from the club helped pay for some massively important incomings.
Virgil van Dijk joined just before Coutinho left, but it was in the same transfer window, meaning the club likely knew they could easily spend £75m on the Dutch defender. The other big signing partly made possible by Coutinho's departure was Alisson's transfer from Roma in the summer of 2018.
As we know now, Coutinho's transfer to Barcelona from Liverpool was a massive flop for the Catalan giants. The Brazilian attacker failed to stay healthy for the club and produce the world-class results they expected. However, Coutinho eventually won his first Champions League trophy on loan at Bayern Munich in 2020. He is currently on loan at Al-Duhail SC in the Qatar Stars League from Premier League side Aston Villa.
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