Liverpool must wait for transfer answer as Arsenal and Newcastle dealt glaring reality check

Liverpool must wait for transfer answer as Arsenal and Newcastle dealt glaring reality check

Assessing Liverpool's remarkable transfer window and how it changes the perception of Fenway Sports Group and the pressure on Arne Slot

Alexander Isak signs for Liverpool at AXA Training Centre on September 1 2025 (Image: Nikki Dyer - LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

From famine to feast. But the addictive dopamine hit of signing players meant there were some Liverpool supporters left disappointed when the proposed arrival of Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace collapsed shortly after Monday's deadline.

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Regardless, this has been an unprecedent transfer window not just for the Reds but the Premier League as a whole, Arne Slot's Premier League champions having committed to splashing out £450million on new talent.

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It makes the spending splurge headed by sporting director Richard Hughes the highest tally in a single window in English football history, surpassing the previous record amount of £435m set by Chelsea two years ago.

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Inside Liverpool deadline day as Alexander Isak jets off and transfer collapses after tense talks READ MORE:

The shimmering centrepiece, of course, is Alexander Isak, Liverpool's patience in waiting for the Sweden international rewarded with Newcastle United finally showing a modicum of commonsense and cashing in on their wantaway prized asset for a British record £125m fee.

Having romped to the Premier League title last season, it is the ultimate in recruiting from a position of strength, an approach that served Liverpool so well during their glory days of the 1970s and 1980s.

And while at first glance very much against the trend long set by fiscally-aware owners Fenway Sports Group, the devil is, as ever, in the detail.

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Liverpool could recoup up to £225m from player sales this summer, with £200m of that guaranteed. And in terms of net spend for the window, it puts them behind expected title rivals Arsenal, again highlighting the Reds as chief exponents of the underrated and often overlooked ability of selling players at good prices.

But there's no doubt the huge outlay and squad reshuffle has further ramped up the pressure on Slot to deliver, even allowing for his remarkable debut campaign in charge. Winning the title with ostensibly another manager's players is one thing - constructing your own team in your own image and going again is quite another.

Indeed, the transformation this summer is one that perhaps would usually have been expected when Slot succeeded Jurgen Klopp last year. Liverpool, though, decided there was sufficient tumult behind the scenes to hold off overhauling the playing staff, allowing Slot to benefit from the consistency and relationships already forged under his predecessor.

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The change has been extensive. Georgia international goalkeeper Giorgio Mamardashvili was already coming in from Valencia for £29m, which allowed Caomhin Kelleher to move to Brentford swiftly after the conclusion of last season. With Vitezlsav Jaros heading to Ajax on loan, the experienced Freddie Woodman on a free and youthful Armin Pecsi for £1.3m were also recruited.

Some of the business was necessary, not least at full-back. Liverpool cannily got £8.5m out of Real Madrid for right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving a month before he was due to depart for nothing, and showed their nous and knowledge by triggering a £29m release clause to take Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen as replacement.

On the other flank, Hughes mined his Bournemouth contacts to capture Milos Kerkez for £40m while Kostas Tsimikas left on loan to Roma.

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The one midfield recruit was an admittedly big one, Florian Wirtz for a short while the club record signing when completing a £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen to provide the creativity, albeit in a different position, lost with the exit of Alexander-Arnold.

But the attack was the main focus even before the tragic death of Diogo Jota.

Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez completed much-touted sales before the serious show of clout in taking first Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt for a potential £79m and then eventually relieving Newcastle of Isak.

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If Isak's reputation has taken a hit from the at times distasteful saga, Newcastle's Saudi owners, the Public Investment Fund, were given a glaring reality check over the machinations of the transfer market and a pecking order in which, at present, Liverpool are placed higher. There won't be any worries over Isak's character.

Concerns over the failure to land centre-back Guehi, particularly with Jarell Quansah having gone to Bayer Leverkusen, will be alleviated slightly by intrigue over the progress of highly-rated Italian teenager Giovani Leoni, taken from Parma for £29m.

And Liverpool will in any case almost certainly return for Guehi in the New Year at a much lower price given the England international will have only six months remaining on his contract. Much like with Virgil van Dijk seven years earlier, the Reds are willing to wait.

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Quansah's exit also highlighted some future-proofing from the Reds, with a buyback clause included in his contract. It's the same for Ben Doak, who has moved to Bournemouth, and Harvey Elliott, who will spend the season on loan at Aston Villa before a £35m permanent move. Liverpool also included a 20% sell-on clause in the deal that took Tyler Morton to Lyon.

While a slew of Academy hopefuls departed on loan and Nat Phillips finally gained a deserved permanent move to West Bromwich Albion, there will be some frustration the likes of Kaide Gordon and Calvin Ramsay were unable to gain much-needed temporary spells of senior football.

Having largely kept their powder dry in the previous three windows, this was summer for Liverpool to capitalise on both the momentum of their unexpected title triumph and the opportunity enabled by their established financial practices.

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And with the new arrivals having an average age of 22, it's unlikely the Reds will have to spend anywhere near as heavily for several years.

That said, futile are attempts to suggest Liverpool have "won" the transfer window. That will only become apparent over the next few years.

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Indeed, Chelsea's heavy spend in 2023 has thus far gleaned only the UEFA Conference League and the much-derided FIFA Club World Cup. Liverpool's capture of four new midfielders that summer, while nowhere near as heralded, ultimately proved decisive in winning the title.

Those of a certain vintage will point to parallels with the summer of 1987 when, after John Aldridge was purchased earlier in the year, the arrival of John Barnes and Peter Beardsley prompted huge excitement among supporters for a new-look side that swiftly cemented itself as one of the greatest in the club's history.

It would perhaps be too much to expect such instant evolution this time around. But there's no doubt this has been the most thrilling transfer window in Liverpool's history. Now comes the hard part.

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