Arne Slot’s Anfield rebuild on hold? Why Liverpool haven’t signed any players this summer
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The new Premier League season is just a few weeks away and to no great surprise many of England’s biggest clubs are spending big in the summer transfer window to prepare for the new league campaign. Aston Villa have undoubtedly led the way with their spending on new players standing at €176 million, with Chelsea (€113m), Manchester United (€105m) and Brighton (€92m) in close pursuit. To date the Premier League has already spent €1.2 billion on new players and that figure is likely to continue increasing until the window shuts at the end of August.
However, one club that continues to raise eyebrows over their lack of transfer activity are Liverpool. With a new head coach in place, the Anfield side have yet to make a single signing this summer and have only seen three senior players leave at the end of their contracts. Leading many fans of the club to wonder whether Arne Slot and his backroom staff are biding their time in the transfer window in the hope of snatching the players they want before it slams shut, or as simply content with the players they have inherited from Jürgen Klopp. So why have Liverpool yet to spend a single Euro in this summer’s transfer window? Let’s take a look.
Liverpool’s typical spending in the transfer market
To figure out why Liverpool haven’t spent any money this summer, we must first figure out how much the club typically spend in the summer transfer window and see how far off the club’s current plans are to their typical behaviour. According to Transfermarkt’s own data, in the ten seasons leading up to this one Liverpool spent on average €102m per year on new signings each summer. However, their net spend on new players (so including fees earned from sales) stood at just €45.2m. This, to no great surprise for fans of the club, is well below their main rivals in the Premier League and places them seventh in the division behind the likes of Tottenham and West Ham for net spend on transfers. So in other words, the club typically sells players in order to buy new ones and don’t tend to overspend when it can be avoided.
If we look at the club’s spending in both transfer windows in the last six campaigns prior to this current one, we can see that in most years building up to Slot taking over for Klopp, Liverpool did in fact spend more than they typically do. In particular, the club’s net spend on new players last season stood at €111.3m due to the arrival of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo. And, in a sense, the club could perhaps argue that the cheque book was in good use last year as Klopp spent big on rebuilding the squad, prior to Slot’s arrival. And, as a result, there’s little real need for Liverpool to go on a summer spending spree to address issues in the squad.
However, that shouldn’t rule out the arrival of some new players. Slot himself has admitted that the squad he inherited from Klopp is “really good” but also revealed recently that he does want to bring in some of his own players. “Richard [Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director] more than me is really working hard on that and he keeps me updated every time,” Slot told the media recently. “We already have a very good team, where I am already really happy, but it would be a surprise for all of us if we don’t bring any players in. That probably will happen in the end, but for now, we’re just waiting for the players to come back and waiting for the right ones to sign.”
Where do Liverpool need to strengthen their squad?
If Slot is intent on spending some money before the start of the new season then there are a few positions that could certainly use some reinforcements in the coming weeks. When we take a look at Liverpool’s most valuable starting XI and the next-best player in each position, the most glaring omission is a back-up striker for Darwin Núñez. Of course, both Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota can play up front, but neither are No.9s in the style of Núñez and without the Uruguay international fit and ready to play Slot actually has no other traditional striker to pick from in his squad. That, presumably, will be an area that the new head coach will be looking to bring in at least one new player before the window draws to a close.
Right-Back
B. Leverkusen
33 %
Liverpool
Bundesliga
Premier League
Left Winger
Newcastle
53 %
Liverpool
Premier League
Premier League
Right Winger
Galatasaray
43 %
Liverpool
Süper Lig
Premier League
Elsewhere, a new central defender may be needed to help bolster the options in defence. Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah are good back ups to Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil Van Dijk, but beyond that Slot would be relying on players that are unlikely to make the step up to Premier League football well. And with the departure of Joel Matip this summer, a ew senior central defender may be vital for Liverpool’s league campaign, when the injuries start to come in thick and fast mid-way through the campaign. Especially when we consider that Van Dijk and Konaté missed nine games between them last season.
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