2002-03 season
Players Bought: Salif Diao (£5m), Alou Diarra (Free), Florent Sinama Pongolle (£2m), Anthony Le Tallec (£3.7m), Bruno Cheyrou (£3.7m)
Players Sold: Stephen Wright (£3m), Nick Barmby (£2.75m; Released: Mark Peers, Patrik Berger, Jari Litmanen, Neil Prince, Jamie Redknapp
Performance: So much talent, so much potential, so little end product. This was the summer where we bought ‘the new Patrick Vieira’ and ‘the new Zinedine Zidane’ only to watch them come to nothing. Sinama Pongolle did at least have a couple of special moments in a Liverpool shirt, most notably his goal against Olympiacos in 2004.
Rating: 4/10
2003-04 season
Players Bought: Harry Kewell (£5m), Steve Finnan (£3.5m), Patrice Luzi (Free)
Players Sold: Emile Heskey (£6.25m); Released: Steven Gillespie, Stephen Vaughan, Daniel Sjolund, Pegguy Arphexad, Andrew Nicholas
Performance: Kewell spent more time in the treatment room that he did on the pitch for Liverpool – although he did still have a few moments of brilliance. Finnan was an excellent signing and arguably remains our best full-back of the Premier League era. We made most of the money we spent back by selling Heskey as well.
Rating: 6/10
