When the action on the pitch comes to a close and footballers start hitting the beach, there's only one thing better than a big bit of transfer news to digest and that's a club record transfer fee.
Whether it's Ronaldo, Gareth Bale or Neymar, fans of the game will consume record transfers like silverware in its own right. They don't always work out of course, as the accountants of Barcelona will testify with Phillipe Coutinho.
When it comes to strikers, Liverpool have broken their own club record on several occasions in the past 30 years and could be about to repeat the feat with the expected acquisition of Darwin Nunez from Benfica for a total of around £85million, including add-ons. Proper add-odds, not the Bayern Munich Sadio Mane ones.
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With this in mind, we've taken a look back a five times the Reds broke their own club transfer fee record in the past 30 years and how it all worked out. Originally planned for the past 20 years until the realisation that the first one on the list was 27 years ago, which has seriously made me question my own mortality...
Stan Collymore - £8.5million - 1995
"The man from Del Monte, he said yes." That was the apparent code phrase that signalled Stan Collymore had agreed to join the Reds from Nottingham Forest for a then English record £8.5million transfer fee, holding off strong interest from Everton in the process. Stan the Man would make an instant impact, scoring a screamer on his debut at Anfield against Sheffield Wednesday in 1995.
He would go on to form a productive partnership with Robbie Fowler that yielded 55 goals between them during the 1995/96 season and saw the Reds make a decent charge for the Premiership title. He also scored the winning goal against Newcastle United in an unforgettable 4-3 victory that was later voted Premier League match of the decade.
But Collymore's stock did not last, as inconsistency allowed a young Michael Owen to force his way into the side, before he was eventually sold to his boyhood club Aston Villa in May 1997.
Djibril Cisse - £14.5million - 2004
Frenchman Cisse had been banging the goals in for Auxerre when Gerard Houllier broke Liverpool's transfer fee record to bring him to Anfield. Unfortunately for Houllier it was pretty much his last act before club and manager parted ways after a disappointing season. Instead, Cisse would play under Rafa Benitez.
He had only played 19 games for the Reds before suffering a horrific leg break at Blackburn Rovers. Against all odds however, Cisse was back on the pitch as early as April 2005, in the Champions League quarter-final against Juventus and went on to score a penalty in the now famous shootout triumph against AC Milan in Istanbul that landed Liverpool their fifth European Cup.
Cisse was at it again in Cardiff 12 months later, scoring the Reds first goal in a dramatic 3-3 FA Cup final with West Ham United, before victory was once again assured on spot-kicks. Cisse bought a large house in Cheshire that saw him aqcuire the title 'Lord of the Manor of Frodsham,' but that was about as glorious as it got for the pacey front man. Despite scoring 19 goals in the 2005/06 season he was frequently played on the wing and eventually joined Marseille, but not before breaking his leg again and having to wait before returning to France on a permanent basis.
Fernando Torres - £20.2million - 2007
Torres left his boyhood Atletico Madrid for Anfield in the summer of 2007 with midfielder Luis Garcia going in the opposite direction. The Spaniard was an instant hit with fans, scoring against Chelsea on his Anfield debit and plundering a brilliant hat-trick against Reading in the League Cup. He would got on to be shortlisted that season for both the PFA Player and Young Player of the Year awards. By scoring 24 goals 'El Nino' set a new Premier League record for the most goals scored by a foreign player in debut season. He ended the season with 33 in all competitions.
But by the start of the 2010/11 season, Chelsea were circling for Liverpool's star man and after handing in a transfer request in January 2011, he joined the Blues on transfer deadline day for an eye-watering £50million. Although never really happy in West London he still went on it win the Champions League, FA Cup and Europa League with Chelsea, having won nothing with the Reds.
Andy Carroll - £35million - 2011
No sooner had the ink dried on Chelsea's £50million cheque for Fernando Torres, Liverpool had already spent the money. In fact, the cheque probably hadn't even cleared. Literally the same day, the Reds swooped for Ajax striker Luis Suarez and Newcastle United's Andy Carroll.
But while the Uruguayan cost a mere £22.8milllion, it was target man Carroll who broke Liverpool's club transfer record in a surprising £35million deal. On arrival he was the most expensive British football of all time, but on reflection it wasn't money well spent. To be fair the warning signs were there pretty early, Liverpool actually sign him while he was injured and he didn't feature at all for over six weeks.
Goals were hard to come by and after scoring only two in his first half season and nine in the next, he was eventually loaned out to West Ham United near the start of the 2012/13 season and never played for the Reds again. Teammate Suarez on the other hand, became a superstar of the club.
Mohamed Salah - £43.9million - 2017
Egyptian Salah had shown great promise with FC Basel before flattering to deceive at Chelsea. But it was spells with Fiorentina and AS Roma that properly put him on Liverpool's radar and he joined for a club record £36.5million that would eventually rise to £42million. The rest is history.
Since then, Salah has gone on to score an astonishing 156 goals in 180 appearances for the Reds, winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup in the process.
It remains to be seen whether he will sign a new contract that will keep him at Anfield beyond the next 12 months, but as record transfers go, his was the one that gave the best return on investment.
