Liverpool’s Transfer Spend Since 2025 Demands Success—But Reds Remain ‘Really Poor’
Liverpool have failed to win three of their four matches at the start of the new 2026–27 Premier League season, adding a 0–0 against Fulham to previous draws against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. But Reds legend Jamie Carragher is assigning no blame to Andoni Iraola.
Iraola was appointed in early June after the club made the decision to part company with Arne Slot, 12 months after the Dutchman delivered only a second Premier League title in 35 years.
Slot was fired after failing to put his own stamp on Liverpool following what was a world-record transfer spend last summer. But while individual performances tailed off, Carragher said while discussing the team on Sky Sports Monday Night Football that the pattern is no different with someone else now in charge. The onus is on the players to step up.
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“I’m putting no pressure or criticism on the manager—it hasn’t been a great start—but we’re at the stage now with this group of players where what we saw last season wasn’t acceptable for the club,” Carragher began to explain.
“They changed the manager on the back of last season, and the Liverpool hierarchy were basically saying, ‘We’ve got great players [but] you’re not getting enough out of them.’ O.K., fair enough. The new manager comes in [but] you can’t then say he needs transfer windows.”
“It’s very early days, but these players have been really poor for a long time. The start to the season has been really poor, and Liverpool haven’t had difficult fixtures. Really, Liverpool should have 10 points.
“No Liverpool supporter will be looking at or questioning the manager. This season will be about the players, so for me, and most Liverpool supporters, we’ll be looking at those players and thinking you’ve got to do an awful lot more.”
Liverpool’s $900 Million Transfer Spend Demands Success
Jürgen Klopp stepped down at the end of 2024–25, bringing an end to his 10-year reign at Anfield. Only Federico Chiesa was added to the squad for Slot’s debut season, with the Italian largely ineffective because of injuries and playing in only six Premier League games. It was, for all intents and purposes, still the Liverpool squad Klopp left behind.
The problems began when the club tried to rebuild. On the face of it, the Reds looked stronger after committing $604 million (£448.5 million) on eight players.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was lost for a nominal fee after a contract fumble that began two years earlier, but Jeremie Frimpong was billed as a strong successor. Darwin Núñez was no great loss, while Luis Díaz was sold for a major profit and also seemed to be comfortably replaced.
Mohamed Salah indirectly accused Slot of moving away from the intense, fast-paced style of football that made Liverpool great under Klopp. The Reds hired Iraola, known for preaching that philosophy at Bournemouth, and spent another $293 million (£217.5 million) on Bradley Barcola, Jérémy Jacquet and Víctor Muñoz—a total outlay close to $900 million (£668.5 million) in two summers.
Liverpool have recruited every position and, for having invested so heavily, should be winning games more readily than they are.
Liverpool First-Team Signings Since Summer 2025
Player | Position | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
Jeremie Frimpong | Right back | Bayer Leverkusen | $40 million |
Florian Wirtz | Attacker midfielder | Bayer Leverkusen | $116 million |
Milos Kerkez | Left back | Bournemouth | $54 million |
Giorgi Mamardashvili | Goalkeeper | Valencia | $39 million |
Hugo Ekitiké | Striker | Eintracht Frankfurt | $106.5 million |
Giovanni Leoni | Center back | Parma | $40 million |
Alexander Isak | Striker | Newcastle | $168.5 million |
Jérémy Jacquet | Center back | Rennes | $81 million |
Víctor Muñoz | Winger | Osasuna | $46.5 million |
Bradley Barcola | Winger | PSG | $166 million |
Fees include add-ons
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