Some heroes and flops on this list.
Our transfer policy has been criticised a lot this season – mainly on the basis of the £16m spent on Mario Balotelli – but there have been plenty of occasions when the heavy outlays on some of the world’s best talent have been justified by their performances or their future sell on fee.
READ MORE:
Liverpool Transfer News
Arsenal legend says Liverpool would be winners in Walcott – Sterling swap deal
Liverpool’s ‘statistically’ top 10 players this season – Emre Can 6th, Coutinho 3rd
Here is our most expensive eleven(via lfchistory.net), however, players such as Robbie Keane and Lazar Markovic miss out as there are more expensive acquisitions already in their positions:
GK- Simon Mignolet (£9m)
The Belgian has come in for some criticism in the past, but you would probably struggle to find many keepers under 30 who have as much talent as he clearly does, for the £9m that Mignolet cost from Sunderland in 2013.
RB- Glen Johnson (£17.5m)
In all likelihood, Glen Johnson will be departing Anfield in the summer. But you cannot argue that he has served us well during his six years on Merseyside. He has made nearly 200 league appearances in that time. However, the £17.5m fee spent on him would like slightly more value for money if he wasn’t able to leave on a free at the end of the season.
CB- Dejan Lovren (£20m)
It probably wasn’t the best idea for the club to fork out £20m for someone who had had one good season for a mid-table Premier League side. However, if we hadn’t, you can bet that another would have done. At 25, he’s got plenty of time to turn things around after a difficult start.
CB- Mamadou Sakho (£15m)
Despite some promising moments since his move from PSG in 2013, Sakho is another one who has struggled at times. Like Lovren, he has more than enough time to win everyone over. Don’t forget that he was a prominent part of the French side’s Ligue 1 title win the season before he arrived.
LB- Stewart Downing (£18.5m)
Tom Werner might have been impressed by a doctored Aston Villa promo video of Downing kicking footballs into bins, but the rest of the world weren’t shocked when the Englishman reverted to type. Downing struggled to deliver on his potential with us, and that’s reflected in the near £15m loss made on him. He only managed to bag three goals from 65 league appearances whilst a Red.
CM- Javier Mascherano (£18.6m)
Signed after a controversial time at West Ham, Javier Mascherano was a great acquisition for the club. Hard-working, tough-tackling, and an excellent passer, he provided our team with a steel that we at times lacked. It is just a shame that his best days have probably been spent at Barcelona, for whom he joined for £17.25m in 2010.
CM- Alberto Aquilani (£17.1m)
Things never worked out, and the midfielder spent most of his three years with us out on loan. The most disappointing aspect of the deal was that Aquilani would leave the club for Fiorentina for peanuts in 2012.
CM- Adam Lallana (£25m)
Another player yet to justify his full fee, but with time to put that right. He had been Southampton’s talisman as they rose from the doldrums of English football all the way into the Premier League, and showed no signs of looking out of his depth. Injuries have delayed him settling at our club, but there is definitely much more to come from the England international.
ST- Fernando Torres (£20.2m)
Despite the circumstances in which he left, the two transfer dealings we did involving Fernando Torres were excellent business. We brought him in when he was one of Europe’s best strikers, no question, and sold him for nearly £30m profit when he looked a shell of his former self. Chelsea only saw the best of him when he was wearing our shirt.
ST- Andy Carroll (£35m)
Unfortunately, Andy Carroll remains something of a blemish at the club as our record signing. One decent season for Newcastle in the Championship seemed to do enough to persuade the board to spend £35m as a direct replacement for the departing Fernando Torres. Injuries and poor form blighted his time at Anfield, before a £15m move away in 2013. Now he’s West Ham’s problem.
ST- Luis Suarez (£22.8m)
Arguably the best bit of business we’ve done either on or off the pitch. Luis Suarez was electric during his time at Anfield, therefore it’s a shame that his time will be very much remembered for the controversial incidents. He managed to win the golden boot – as well as most of the other individual awards – in his final season before a £75m move to Barcelona.