View: Liverpool need to change strategy amid £318m net-spend mark
Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group have gained a reputation as one of the most financially savvy owners in football.
The Reds’ financial stability has been achieved via FSG capitalising on the club’s brand strength with commercial deals and operating with a sell-to-buy strategy in the transfer market.
Liverpool are not the same club FSG inherited in 2010 and have returned to the pinnacle of football under their stewardship, but the club is at risk of stagnating.
Since Jurgen Klopp was appointed at the Anfield helm in 2016, the Reds have accumulated a net spend of £346million [The Mirror, 9 May] which now stands at £318.5m if reports are correct that the sale of Fabio Carvalho to Brentford brought in £27.5m (Sky Sports).
FSG are in unchartered territory and must match the investment to the size of the club Liverpool have become or risk falling behind their Premier League rivals.
Fenway Sports Group need to match Liverpool ambition
The two most revolutionary signings of the Klopp era were the signings of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, funded by the sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for £142m [The Guardian].
Liverpool fans look back at that time as a defining period in the club’s history and the moment that led them to future Champions League and Premier League success.
FSG have never sanctioned a big-money sale without a big-money departure, on paper that is sound logic considering other Premier League sides are suffering to abide by the league’s Profit and Sustainability rules, bu, the club is on track to surpass the £272m commercial income announced for the 2022/23 financial year [The Athletic].
It is also 12 months on from the British-record £111m bid for Moises Caicedo [BBC Sport] and the money has seemingly disappeared.
Martin Zubimendi’s rejection is now the third consecutive year that Liverpool have failed to sign their reported main transfer target after Aurelien Tchouameni in 2022 and Jude Bellingham in 2023 as the deals were deemed too expensive.
The money from the Carvalho sale was intended to go towards Zubimendi [The Guardian] and now the side will face Ipswich Town on the opening day of the 2024/25 Premier League season with one less squad option.
In comparison, Manchester City has a net spend of £630m, Arsenal £702m, and Manchester United and Chelsea at £1bn, while Tottenham also have a higher net spend than the Reds at £570m.
Liverpool and FSG need to act fast in the final weeks of the transfer window and back Slot for a successful first campaign at the helm, or his side will be condemned to another season of chasing the shadow of Arsenal and Man City.
In other Liverpool news, Fabio Carvalho leads Liverpool youth exodus.
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