Liverpool have developed quite the knack for selling their unwanted players for considerable fees in recent years, with such business bolstering their transfer kitty in the process.
Yet at a time when they are in need of a midfield revamp, and when it will cost a club-record fee if they are to be successful in signing first-choice target Jude Bellingham in the summer, they have run out of in-demand players to move on.
Nat Phillips could move on before the January transfer window closes next week, while Caoimhin Kelleher has been tipped to command a significant fee when the time comes for the Republic of Ireland international to depart Anfield in search of first-team football. But beyond that pair, Liverpool’s selling well is seemingly dry.
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There will be vacancies in their squad come the summer, of course, with Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Adrian and Arthur Melo not contracted beyond the end of the campaign. But to bring in the desired reinforcements, FSG will need to invest directly into the Reds’ squad rather than rely on raising significant funds through sales.
Such business would be in contrast to recent windows at Anfield, however, with Liverpool’s owners repeatedly criticised for their lack of investment in Klopp’s squad. While in the past they have been protected by results, at a time when they are actively searching for new investors, the scrutiny they face is greater than ever.
While Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, and Ibrahima Konate have all cost hefty amounts in the previous four transfer windows, the £37m Dutchman, £37m Colombian and £36m Frenchman were solitary arrivals at the time. Meanwhile, while the £64m 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 more than one player in the same window when bringing in Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota. It marks the only time the Reds have invested in such a way since they started winning trophies under Klopp, with Nunez also the only signing to have cost significantly more than £40m since their Champions League win in 2019.
No wonder FSG continue to be criticised by the transfer-hungry social media hordes as Liverpool went from champions of England, Europe, and the world, and from nearly winning an unprecedented quadruple, to sleep-walking into a season of transition down in the mid-table doldrums.
It's in stark contrast to the Reds’ Philippe Coutinho-aided transfer activity in 2018, when they broke their club record when signing Virgil van Dijk for £75m in January, before parting with £174.25m to bring in Alisson Becker, Naby Keita, Fabinho, and Xherdan Shaqiri the following summer off the back of their Champions League final loss to Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, FSG spent £43.9m on Mohamed Salah and £40m on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the summer of 2017, along with £35m on Sadio Mane and £25m on Gini Wijnaldum 12 months earlier, as they successfully transformed Liverpool into one of England and Europe’s strongest teams. If only they had put the same effort into keeping the Reds on top.
Now Liverpool’s squad needs such investment again, with it perhaps not lost on FSG critics that it coincides with their search for new investors while remaining open to a full takeover.
But in the meantime, the Reds have to persist with what they’ve got. They seemingly don’t have the funds to strengthen their squad further in January, with Klopp repeatedly insisting Liverpool’s mid-season business is done, and are not capable of competing with the likes of Man City financially.
Whether they would be capable of signing Bellingham and their needed others in the summer without new investors, and potentially without the riches of Champions League football too, remains to be seen. It is safe to say that the sceptics aren’t confident.
To add insult to injury, not only are Liverpool lacking fringe players they could offload to bolster their transfer kitty, they are poised to miss out on a number of windfalls too.
Including sell-on clauses in player exits has been common practice in Reds outgoings in recent years, with them earning windfalls when their former players have moved on again if sold for a profit during the terms of their original contract. For example, Liverpool pocketed roughly £2m courtesy of Danny Ings’ £30m move from Southampton to Aston Villa and approximately £1.5m as a result of Taiwo Awoniyi’s £17.5m switch from Union Berlin to Nottingham Forest.
However, are unlikely to be handed any such financial boosts in the near future, with a number of those clauses now invalid.
Liverpool included a 30% sell-on clause when selling Luis Alberto to Lazio for £4.3m in August 2016, a 20% sell-on clause when selling Danny Ward to Leicester City for £12.5m in July 2018, and a 20% sell-on clause when selling Dominic Solanke to AFC Bournemouth for £24m in January 2019. Yet all three players have signed new contracts with their clubs since their Anfield exits, meaning the Reds are no longer entitled to such funds if they were to be sold for a profit.
Meanwhile, they also look set to miss out on any windfall from selling Ryan Kent to Rangers in September 2019. A 20% sell-on clause was included in his £7m move to Ibrox, but the winger is out of contract next summer. As a result, unless the ‘Gers were to sell the 26-year-old for a profit before the January transfer window closes, Liverpool will see their sell-on clause expire.
Liverpool are also unlikely to benefit financially from the 20% sell-on clause they included in Rafa Camacho's £7m switch to Sporting Lisbon in June 2019, and Rhian Brewster's £23.5m switch to Sheffield United in October 2020.
The Portuguese winger is currently out on loan for the third successive season, but while Sporting have previously sent him to fellow Portuguese Primeira Liga sides Rio Ave and Belenenses, this time the 22-year-old finds himself in Greece with Aris. The switch reportedly includes an option to buy, and with Camacho hardly pulling up trees as he heads towards the final year of his contract, the Lisbon outfit are highly unlikely to be able to sell him for a profit.
Meanwhile, with Brewster currently out injured and having only scored five goals in three seasons with Sheffield United, any hopes of the Blades selling the striker for more than £23.5m have already long since extinguished.
Likewise, Liverpool look unlikely to be in a position to benefit from the 15% sell-on clause they included in Ki-Jana Hoever’s £13.5m switch to Wolves in September 2020. The 21-year-old made 25 appearances across his first two seasons as Molineux before falling out of favour under former manager Bruno Lage.
Sent on loan to PSV Eindhoven last summer, he has since seen that temporary deal cancelled having been limited to just eight appearances for the Dutch outfit, with only four of them starts, and having played just once since mid-October.
Under contract until 2025, Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs has confirmed they intend to send Hoever out on loan again for the second half of the season rather than retaining him as part of Julen Lopetegui’s first team squad.
“PSV being interested in Fabio (Silva) has given us the opportunity to pull Ki out,” Hobbs told Wolves’ website. “We’ve been able to bring Ki back while they contribute to his wages for the rest of the season and we can pick a new club for him for the second part of the season, based purely on a football reason.
“We can pick the best club who are going to give him good minutes and the right style of football, without any other thoughts needing to come into play.”
While Hoever is still young enough to turn his fortunes around, given how his Wolves career has gone to date, it would be a surprise if they sold him for a profit in the future.
For the record, Liverpool also included a 20% sell-on clause in Ovie Ejaria's £3.5m move to Reading in August 2020, and a 20% sell-on clause in Liam Millar's £1.3m move to FC Basel, a 20% sell-on clause in Kamil Grabara's £3m move to FC Copenhagen, a 15% sell-on clause in Harry Wilson's £12m move to Fulham, and a 10% sell-on clause in Marko Grujic's £10.5m move to FC Porto - all in the summer of 2021. But whether those clauses will ever be in a position to be activated too remains to be seen.
As a result, player sales will be of little use to Liverpool this summer if they are to perform the desired surgery on their ageing and injury-prone squad. After four years of restricted investment, which have suddenly left the club falling short of their rivals, Klopp knows what needs to be done. Now it’s up to FSG to find alternative measures to make sure the Reds are in a strong enough position to actually ensure it happens.
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