If Liverpool are to sign Jude Bellingham next summer, they will need to smash their transfer record with the England international expected to cost well over £100m when he departs Borussia Dortmund.
Whether the Reds are actually in a position to sign the midfielder remains to be seen, given their current struggles this season leave them highly unlikely to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Throw in FSG’s search for new investors and there are a number of reasons to be sceptical that they could actually finance a deal and win the teenager’s signature ahead of the likes of Real Madrid and Man City.
Yet the England international remains their first-choice target as Liverpool plot to overhaul their midfield in the summer. Meanwhile, the Reds would have moved for Aurelien Tchouameni last year, only to be told the France international only had eyes for Real Madrid. Leaving Monaco in an £85.3m deal, it would suggest that the required funds are there for such a signing even if they have been held back to date.
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While FSG have been criticised for their restricted investment in the Liverpool squad over the years, they have been willing to spend a big fee when required. They have technically broken the Reds’ transfer record six times since taking over the club in October 2010 after all, with the £22.8m and £35m signings of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll in January 2011, the £43.9m arrival of Mohamed Salah in June 2017, committing to pay £48m plus a premium for Naby Keita in August 2017 (He would join for £52.75m the following summer), Virgil van Dijk’s £75m transfer in January 2018, and then Darwin Nunez’s Anfield switch last summer which could be worth up to £85m with activated add-ons.
Meanwhile, while not club record fees, they have spent £65m on Alisson Becker, £45m on Diogo Jota, £43.7m on Fabinho, £40m on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, an initial £37m for both Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo, £36m for Ibrahima Konate, £34m on Sadio Mane, £32.5m on Christian Benteke, £29m on Roberto Firmino, £25m on each of Adam Lallana, Gini Wijnaldum, and Thiago Alcantara, and £20m on Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing, Lazar Markovic and Dejan Lovren. As a result, FSG have parted with £868.65m on big-money transfers (worth £20m+) since taking over at Anfield.
Of course, the criticism would be that, in recent years at least since Jurgen Klopp’s side started winning trophies, significant investment in individual players has come in isolation. While Gakpo, Nunez, Diaz, and Konate have all cost hefty amounts in the previous four transfer windows, the Dutchman, Colombian and Frenchman were solitary arrivals at the time. Meanwhile, while the Uruguayan was accompanied by Fabio Carvalho, Calvin Ramsay, and the loan signing of Arthur Melo, the young duo cost less than an initial £10m combined.
As a result, we have to go back to the summer of 2020 for the last time Liverpool spent more than £20m on two players in the same window when bringing in Thiago and Jota. It marks the only time the Reds have invested in such a way since their Champions League win in 2019 with Nunez also the only signing costing significantly more than £40m over the past four years.
Both will need to change this summer, with multiple signings required as part of a much-needed midfield revamp, and such business arguably not the only recruitment Liverpool need to complete as they address their ageing squad.
At least under Klopp, the Reds boast a remarkably high success rate when it comes to big-money signings. While the jury might currently be out on Gakpo, and Nunez to a lesser extent, Keita, who looks set to leave on a Bosman transfer at the end of the season, is perhaps the only one not to live up to expectations. As a side-note, the Guinean is also the only midfielder to have broken the club’s transfer record since the £575k signing of Craig Johnston in April 1981, even if his record fee had already been smashed by Van Dijk before he officially joined Liverpool.
"We cannot afford to buy and not be right,” Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders admitted last November. “We can only afford to buy to be right. And it has to add something to our team. Something special, something new.
“Jota added something new, something special. Luis Diaz added something new, something special. Ibou Konate added something new, something special. We have to be right and that’s what we search for.”
As a result, should Liverpool sign Bellingham then the England international would be following a well-trodden path to becoming an Anfield success story. Given his performances for Dortmund haven’t dropped off this season despite the speculation regarding his future, the evidence would suggest he is more than capable of coping with whatever hefty fee he commands hanging over his head too.
Of course, it won’t just be the Reds’ transfer record Bellingham would break if he moved to Anfield. In fact any move to England is likely to result in him breaking the British transfer record - currently held by Enzo Fernandez following his £106.8m move to Chelsea from Benfica last month.
But while Liverpool ‘cannot afford to buy and not be right,’ it has been a rather different story elsewhere in the Premier League over the years. When it comes to record divisional signings, such a label has rarely carried success since the £20m barrier was broken.
Juan Sebastian Veron flopped at Manchester United after the Red Devils spent £28.1m to sign him from Lazio in July 2001, and was offloaded to Chelsea for nearly half the price two years later. They would have better luck with Rio Ferdinand in July 2002 at least, when the England international joined from Leeds United in a £29.1m deal. Becoming a United legend, his record signing would mark the last time the Premier League’s most expensive import was actually deemed a success.
Andriy Shevchenko had been established as one of Europe’s greatest strikers and was a former Ballon d’Or winner when he joined Chelsea from AC Milan in July 2006. But the 29-year-old would score just nine Premier League goals following his £30.6m move to Stamford Bridge and, after an unsuccessful loan return to Milan, saw his contract cancelled early so he could re-join Dynamo Kiev on a free transfer in August 2009.
Robinho shocked the footballing world in September 2008 when he broke the record on deadline day to sign for suddenly-rich Man City, completing a £32.5m move from Real Madrid as the Abu Dhabi United Group bought the club. While he scored an impressive 14 Premier League goals in his first season at the Etihad, he flopped in his second campaign as he lost his place and failed to score. He’d return to Brazil as he joined Santos on loan in January 2010, before signing for AC Milan in a £15m deal the following August.
Come January 2011 and the transfer record was broken twice in 17 minutes as Liverpool signed Andy Carroll from Newcastle United for £35m before finalising Fernando Torres’ £50m move to Chelsea. Both strikers would be big-money flops with the England international scoring just six Premier League goals across 18 months, while the Spaniard would score 20 goals across three-and-a-half seasons.
Both deemed surplus to requirements, Carroll would join West Ham on loan in August 2012, before joining the Hammers permanently for £15m the following summer. Meanwhile, Torres saw a two-year loan switch to AC Milan made permanent after just six months, but only so they could complete a loan swap deal with Atletico Madrid for Alessio Cerci.
Angel Di Maria became the next player to break the record in August 2014 as he joined Manchester United in a £59.7m deal from Real Madrid. However, he would last just a season at Old Trafford as he struggled to settle, offering three goals from 27 Premier League appearances, before being sold to Paris Saint-Germain for £44m as he forced through an exit.
The Red Devils would at least enjoy more longevity when breaking their own record to re-sign Paul Pogba in a £93.2m switch from Juventus in August 2016, having seen him leave Old Trafford to join the Old Lady on a free transfer four years earlier. While he’d initially impress and win trophies, his final seasons with United were increasingly disappointing, leading him to be written off as an expensive flop by the time he joined the Serie A giants on a free transfer for the second time last summer.
The World Cup winner’s record had already been broken by that point after Man City paid £100m to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa in August 2021. He would win the Premier League in his first season at the Etihad and has scored five goals from 41 league appearances to date. While not a flop, he’s not first-choice for Pep Guardiola either and has done little to justify quite such an extravagant fee.
Chelsea will be hoping that Fernandez fares a lot better in the weeks, months, and years ahead to avoid becoming the latest British record flop. In truth, his debut performance against Fulham was a promising start.
As a result, the stage is set for the Argentina World Cup winner to change the narrative. But regardless of whether he is successful in doing so or not, the transfer record won’t be his for long with Bellingham waiting in the wings.
Given the scrutiny Liverpool have faced in not already initiating their midfield revamp, the main concern from Kopites has been what if such patience is not rewarded by the Reds signing the midfielder. As a result, they are playing a dangerous game but little thought has been given to whether he would actually even succeed in the Premier League.
Admittedly, there is just an assumption that if Liverpool were to sign the England international, he has already shown enough for Borussia Dortmund and England to suggest his first foray into the English top-flight would be a success and that he would add something new and something special to the Reds.
Keita’s fortunes along with previous Premier League record buys might act as warning, but, with spending under FSG still controlled, they ‘cannot afford to buy and not be right’. Regardless of whether Liverpool’s pursuit for Bellingham proves to be successful or not, they already deem Britain's would-be most expensive signing to be more than worth the wait.
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