When Liverpool last lost a Champions League final, to Real Madrid back in 2018, their response once the transfer window re-opened was emphatic. In came Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri in an £173.25m spending spree - the most costly in the Reds’ history.
FSG’s investment in Jurgen Klopp’s squad was immediately rewarded as they would finish 2018/19 as European champions, having fallen just a point short to Manchester City in the Premier League title race. Give it another year and they would go better on that score, too.
Four years on and Liverpool will be hopeful for similar successes in the season ahead after their latest European Cup final loss to the La Liga giants. And while they haven’t parted with such an extravagant fee this summer, the Reds have parted with up to £99.2m to strengthen their ranks with the signings of Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay.
