Upcoming Major Sales
Few clubs in European football have made as swift an impression this summer as Premier League champions Liverpool. Last week, the team announced the acquisition of Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz for a record-breaking fee of €125 million. Remarkably, Liverpool had already invested around €42 million on other transfers before Wirtz’s arrival, including fellow Leverkusen player Jeremie Frimpong for €40 million and young Hungarian goalkeeper Ármin Pécsi for €1.8 million. It appears that the Anfield club is just getting started with their summer investments.
Liverpool’s Planned Summer Expenditure
Multiple reports indicate that Liverpool is poised to further enhance Arne Slot’s squad ahead of the new season. The club is negotiating the transfer of left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth, with an estimated fee of €47 million agreed between the two sides. This deal will bring Liverpool’s summer expenditure to an impressive €214 million, and Kerkez is unlikely to be the last high-profile signing the club makes in the coming months.
According to The Athletic, Liverpool intends to persist with their summer spending spree following Kerkez’s move. The team is reportedly targeting another striker, with Newcastle’s Alexander Isak being linked to the club. Additionally, they are in need of at least one new central defender, with Ajax’s Jorrel Hato and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi emerging as potential candidates. If necessary, they might consider signing both players.
Collectively, these three potential signings have a combined market value of approximately €200 million, and while transfer fees may not directly correspond with market values, it’s clear that the club would need to allocate significant funds to secure all three. Consequently, if Liverpool is serious about completing these transactions, their total summer spending could surpass €400 million. So how do they intend to finance this?
Projected Income from Player Sales
Much of Liverpool’s transfer activity this window is bolstered by their relatively low expenditure last season, which resulted in a modest profit of €5 million. However, this alone won’t cover the ambitious outlays planned for the coming months. Therefore, several top players are set to be sold before the start of the new season. Alongside the €28 million expected from the sales of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Caoimhín Kelleher, and Nat Phillips, Liverpool is also preparing to sell central defender Jarell Quansah to Leverkusen. According to Fabrizio Romano, Quansah’s transfer fee starts at €35 million, with the potential to rise to €40 million during his tenure in the Bundesliga. He is unlikely to be the last notable departure from Anfield this summer.
As per The Athletic, Liverpool is looking to finalize the sale of Darwin Núñez, who has drawn significant interest from Serie A champions Napoli. Despite the forward costing the English club €85 million, they anticipate receiving around €50 million for the underutilized player. This would increase Liverpool’s total revenue from player sales to nearly €120 million.
Another key player potentially on the move is Ibrahima Konaté. While the French defender is integral to Slot’s plans, he has reportedly declined contract offers and would be entering the final year of his contract this season without an extension. Adding to this scenario, rumors have connected Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa, and Stefan Bajcetic to potential transfers, with a combined market value just under €150 million. If the club pursues sales of all these players along with Núñez and Quansah, they could generate approximately €262 million from player sales. This would certainly help offset the considerable expenses on new signings for the upcoming season.