Liverpool Football Club is one of the most successful in the history of the English game. The Reds have won trophies at home and abroad. It could be argued that the heart of their most recent successes has been good recruitment. However, who are Liverpool’s top ten most expensive signings?
Darwin Nunez (Bought from Benfica for £85.6m)
Liverpool splashed the cash on their record signing in the summer of 2022 after the prolific Uruguayan burst onto the European football scene last season with Benfica. Nunez scored 34 goals in 41 appearances for the Eagles, including netting against Liverpool in the Champions League knockout stages.
Nunez is considered a replacement for the now-departed Sadio Mane. However, he is a very different player from the Senegalese star. He offers the Reds a different dimension, as the forward provides an aerial threat, something missing from their current front players.
The deal is the sort that Liverpool’s recruitment team has got right in the past. However, Nunez has made a mixed start to his Reds career but has the potential to be a big player for the men from Merseyside for years to come.
Virgil van Dijk (Bought from Southampton for £76.2m)
When the Dutchman arrived from Southampton in the January transfer window of 2018, he became the most expensive defender in the game’s history. Some would say he has been worth every penny, as Van Dijk has gone on to become the cornerstone of Jurgen Klopp’s team.
During his time with Liverpool, he has helped his team to win both the Premier League and the Champions League while maturing into one of the finest centre-backs in the world game. This was illustrated in the fact that the former-Celtic star finished as runner-up in the Ballon d’Or in 2019.
Whatever happens for the rest of Van Dijk’s career, he will be considered a Liverpool legend for his sheer positive effect on the heart of the Reds defence in his career on Merseyside.
Alisson (Bought from Roma for £56.3m)
The Brazilian goalkeeper joined Liverpool from Roma in the summer of 2018. The Reds had struggled to find a reliable goalkeeper, as the likes of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius both proved to be error-prone. The latter’s errors cost his team the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid.
Alisson came in and kept an impressive 27 clean sheets in all competitions in his debut campaign. His calming presence also contributed to the Reds winning the Champions League in his first season with the club. In 2020, the former Roma star played a crucial role in Liverpool ending their 30-year weight for an English top-flight title.
Although Alisson’s form slipped slightly in 2020/21, he was soon back to his solid best in 2021/22, as the Reds finished second in the Premier League and as runners-up in the Champions League. He is regarded by many as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Naby Keita (Bought from RB Leipzig for £54m)
Liverpool invested heavily in the Guinea international in the summer of 2018. Keita had impressed during his time with first Salzburg before a spell in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig. He seemed to be the ideal addition to Jurgen Klopp’s midfield options.
The move to Merseyside has not worked out for the midfielder. His critics are right to question the size of the fee paid by the Reds. He has struggled to nail down a regular starting berth, which a string of different injuries has not helped. Keita has yet to make more than 25 starts in a Premier League campaign in his time with the Reds, which only illustrates his struggles.
Although he could still come good, the signing of Naby Keita may be perceived as a rare error on the part of Liverpool’s excellent recruitment team.
Luis Diaz (Bought from Porto for £50m)
The Colombian international arrived in the January transfer window of 2022, having looked like one of the most exciting attacking players in the European game for his previous few seasons at Porto.
Ironically, the winger had previously been on the verge of joining Liverpool’s city-rivals Everton in the summer of 2021, only for the deal to fall through because the Toffees couldn’t find the funds to complete the deal.
However, Diaz did find his way to Merseyside on the red half of the city and has shown early promise in his Reds career. With Sadio Mane now plying his trade at Bayern Munich, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah heading towards the twilight of their career, Diaz looks to be the ideal forward addition for the men from Merseyside.
Christian Benteke (Bought from Aston Villa for £41.8m)
The Belgian striker joined Liverpool in the summer of 2015 after scoring 49 goals in three productive Premier League seasons for Aston Villa. The move seemed to be a shrewd one by the Reds at the time. However, it turned out to be wrong for all parties involved, apart from Villa.
Benteke was at the club for only one season, in which he scored just ten goals and made just 14 Premier League starts for the Reds. His ill-fated spell on Merseyside ended in the summer of 2016 when he joined Crystal Palace for £28m.
Fabinho (Bought from Monaco for £40.5m)
The Brazilian midfielder has become a key player for Liverpool since arriving at the club in 2018. He arrived as a relatively raw and promising defensive midfielder. Fabinho performs the vital duty of protecting his team’s back four.
In fact, the midfield lynchpin is now one of the first names on the Liverpool team sheet and regarded as one of the world’s best players in his position.
Diogo Jota (Bought from Wolves for £40m)
The forward arrived in the summer of 2020 from Wolves, having earned a reputation as a bright up-and-coming forward. Jota came as a backup option to Liverpool’s fab three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
However, despite experiencing injuries mid-way through the campaign, Jota produced an impressive tally of 13 goals in his debut campaign. His second season with the Reds was even more productive, as he plundered 21 goals in all competitions.
The initial question marks over his fee now seem to have dissipated, as the forward has already proven that he is capable of producing the goods for the Reds.
Mohamed Salah (Bought from Roma for £37.8m)
The Egyptian star arrived at Liverpool in the summer of 2017. From when Salah arrived, he was electric, scoring and creating goals. Salah scored a remarkable 43 goals in his debut campaign, and the goals have just kept flowing.
In fact, Salah has scored at least 23 goals in all competitions in each of his seasons at Liverpool. He is quite simply a goal machine. Arguably, the most significant achievement of his career was being the Premier League’s top goalscorer in the Reds’ only Premier League-winning campaign. Salah will forever be remembered as a club legend among the club’s all-time greats.
Sadio Mane (Bought from Southampton for £37m)
Like Salah, Sadio Mane proved to be an absolute steal for the fee the Reds’ paid to sign the Senegalese frontman in 2016. The former Southampton forward was a constant menace to defences in a red shirt, scoring goals and producing assists during his six-year career with the club.
His most important goals arguably came in Liverpool’s title-winning season, though, as he scored 18 times to help Jurgen Klopp’s team to make history. In the summer of 2022, Mane left Liverpool to join Bayern Munich for a fee that could rise to £35m. He left the club as a hero and with best wishes of all at Liverpool after playing such a big part in the club’s trophy-laden period under Klopp.