Liverpool’s Business Model: The Best in the Premier League?

For years on end, we have seen Liverpool as a humble spender in the summer transfer windows.

Whilst they still brought in a handful of marquee signings, which paid the club success, they never matched the obscene numbers their rivals Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea were splashing out on players.

However, this summer, the Reds are certainly celebrating their 20th league title in style. Hands down, Arne Slot’s force have undergone some fantastic business in the market so far; spending heaps of cash, but on highly rated players and in the right areas for reinforcement.

Liverpool have also completed the bulk of their transfer pursuit early on, making sure they are definitely ready to go when the season starts in three weeks time. After all, they do have a Premier League trophy to defend.

How Much Have Liverpool Spent in Previous Windows?

Let’s not paint the wrong picture, Liverpool have certainly invested a healthy number into player additions in the last half a decade. However, for a team who has just won the Premier League, following up from multiple EFL Cups and an FA Cup since 2020, you would have expected much greater transactions to have left the club.

LIVERPOOL ARE PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 🏆🔴

THEIR 20TH LEAGUE TITLE 😤 pic.twitter.com/v31PSsiZ3R

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 27, 2025

Last season, Arne Slot’s men won the league with just €42 million spent all campaign. This fee was spent across just two players - Federico Chiesa and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. The latter costing €30 million and played the entire year back on loan to Valencia.

In the three years prior, Liverpool forked out a grand total of €411.8 million on player acquisitions. To put this into context, Chelsea splurged €1.21 billion in the same three years, finishing third, 12th and sixth in that period.

Furthermore, the Blues have broken Liverpool’s former record transfer fee (€85 million for Darwen Núñez) a staggering three times since 2021. It isn’t just Chelsea with the deep pockets either; each of Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur spent between €700 million and €1 billion, from summer 2021 up to last season.

The seaso that Liverpool have just achieved in the top flight, with less than €50 million spent, is truly extraordinary and has handed them the privilege of being able to spend the big bucks this time round.

They have managed their business fantastically compared to other clubs whose heavy investments haven’t necessarily paid off.

Who Have the Reds Brought in this Summer?

The Darwen Núñez record fee we mentioned earlier has not only been broken this summer by Liverpool - but demolished twice.

There is no other way to introduce Liverpool’s summer additions than to let their new record transfer lead the way. That transfer is Florian Wirtz – a 22-year-old German superstar brought in for the stellar price of €125 million.

Whilst this is no doubt an extortionate amount of money to pay for a football player, Wirtz is one of the greatest young talents there was on the market, prior to putting pen to paper and will cause some surprise should he not become a monumental inclusion in the Liverpool squad.

The German was part of Bayer Leverkusen’s invincible 2023/24 season and has racked up 67 goal contributions in his last two campaigns in a black and red shirt.

(Florian Wirtz Bundesliga 2023/24 & 2024/25 Stats: FotMob)

One of Wirtz’s invincible teammates has hopped on the same plane to Merseyside as well. That is none other than Jeremie Frimpong – also regarded as the perfect replacement for the departed Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Frimpong has swiftly become on the best right-backs in world football following his tremendous time in Leverkusen, building a fantastic reputation for his contribution of goals and assists. The best part is that the 24-year-old has arrived in the North West for a bargain price of just €40 million.

Switching across to the left flank, Arne Slot has equipped a brand-new left-back to challenge the aging Andy Robertson. The newbie they have signed is already full of Premier League experience himself – Milos Kerkez.

The 21-year-old has been climbing up the Premier League with underdogs AFC Bournemouth for the last two seasons, playing a beneficial part in their recent incline. The Hungarian scored two and assisted five in the Premier League season just gone and looks to be the perfect Liverpool full-back – all for a similar price of €46 million.

Just two days ago, the Reds announced the second man greater than Núñez’s price-tag – the highly sought after Hugo Ekitike. Both Manchester United and Arsenal were chasing down the striker until Liverpool beat them to his signature, as the 23-year-old striker impressed thoroughly in the Bundesliga last term.

Ekiteke netted 22 goals and found 12 assists in all competitions for Eintracht Frankfurt last season, clearly demonstrating some of the expertise both Kylian Mbappe and Neymar Jr would have taught him at PSG not so long ago.

However, this talent did not come cheap, at an astonishing €95 million cost for the Premier League champions. Only time will tell if this investment pays off.

To scrub up their impeccable transfer window, the Reds also picked up two back-up goalkeepers in Freddie Woodman and Ármin Pécsi – both for negligible fees.

(Liverpool 2025/26 Transfers: Transfermarkt)

How Does Liverpool’s Transfer Strategy Compare to Other Clubs?

After already delving into the financial indifferences Liverpool have showcased to rival clubs of similar stature, it is clear to see that the Merseyside outfit orchestrate a very dissimilar formula.

Instead, the Reds have adopted the same approach as some of the over-performing smaller clubs in the Premier League, such as Brighton and Hove Albion.

Brighton have highlighted for years now; you don’t need to spend the most money to get the best results. Liverpool have essentially utilised the same values.

Of course, Liverpool’s budget is going to be much greater than Brighton nevertheless, but both sides have extremely different goals heading into each season – Liverpool’s being to challenge for the title.

Furthermore, the one thing that works in the Reds’ favour is that they don’t often get their players stolen off them from larger clubs, because there aren’t many clubs bigger than them. As a result, their investments obtain a longer shelf life and can bolster the club for longer periods.

🚨 Brighton sales in the past year:

🇨🇴 Caicedo £110m
🇪🇸 Cucurella £62m
🇦🇷 McAllister £55m
🇲🇱 Bissouma £35m
🇧🇪 Trossard £27m
🇪🇸 Sanchez £25m
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Burn £13m
🇫🇷 Maupay £12m

💰💰 Total = £389m pic.twitter.com/7Yh4HnJHoi

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) August 11, 2023

Despite all of these new acquisitions being truly overwhelming for Liverpool, it will be interesting to see if it changes much from what we watched last term.