There’s been no direct developments over the past few days, but by the end of the summer, we expect Raheem Sterling to have joined Manchester City for an astronomical transfer fee. ESPN reckon the Sky Blues will come in with a bid close to our £50m valuation, which would make him our third highest ever sale.
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Liverpool sign Arsenal wonderkid Elijah Dixon-Bonner
You can check out the rest of the top ten, here…
Which of these did we get good money for, and who should we have charged more for?
10) Michael Owen – £8.5m plus Antonio Nunez to Real Madrid
We were robbed of the 2001 Ballon d’Or winner really, with Owen running down his contract and putting us in a situation where we had to sell for a massively reduced fee. As a result, combined with the fact he later played for Man United, he’s no longer considered a Merseyside legend. We bet he wishes he never left.
9) Peter Crouch – £8.75m to Portsmouth (rising to £11m with add-ons)
We did well to make a profit on the likeable English forward, who despite a lengthy early barren spell, went on to score 42 goals in total during his three season stay. Crouch is always given a hearty reception when he returns to Anfield.
8) Raul Meireles – £12m to Chelsea
The Meiereles sale seemed an odd one. He was excellent during his debut season at Anfield after we acquired him for £11.5m from Porto. But on the final day of the 2011 summer transfer window, he handed in a transfer request and was sold to Chelsea for a £0.5m profit. He could never establish himself as a regular at Stamford Bridge though and declined because of it. We probably sold him at the best time we could, although he would have been an asset for at least one more season.
7) Robbie Fowler – £12m to Leeds
Fowler couldn’t get in Gerard Houllier’s team behind Owen and Emile Heskey, and after falling out with management, both parties decided it was time to part ways. £12m was big money back in 2001, although it was horrible to watch Fowler, our highest ever Premier League goalscorer, bag goals for a rival. Rafa Benitez of course brought him back to the club during Fowler’s twilight years, and it was superb to see him do so.
6) Robbie Keane – £12m to Tottenham (rising to £16m with add-ons)
Keane lasted only 6 months at Liverpool following his £20m signing from Spurs, before he was sent packing down the motorway back to north London come the Christmas window. Because of our formation at the time with Fernando Torres leading the line, there simply wasn’t a role for the Irishman, who will now link up with Steven Gerrard again at LA Galaxy.
5) Andy Carroll – £15m to West Ham
We lost £20m on Carroll, but in fairness, we did brilliantly to get anywhere near £15m after our biggest ever transfer error: signing him for £35m. Since West Ham paid to keep the technically abject forward permanently, he’s scored seven Premier League goals in two injury hit seasons.
4) Javier Mascherano – £17.25m to Barcelona
Barcelona got a real, real bargain here – it has to be said. The feisty Argentine was brilliant for us, but his head was turned when the world’s best club side came knocking. He’s won three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues and is as respected a holding midfielder (come centre-back) as anyone in world football.
3) Xabi Alonso – £30m to Real Madrid
The Spaniards paid top dollar for Alonso, probably the most fluent passer of a footballer we’ve seen at Anfield during the Premier League era. Unsettling Alonso by targeting Gareth Barry as a replacement was arguably the biggest mistake of Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool tenure. With Madrid, Alonso won a Champions League title – and is now plying his trade for another European behemoth: Bayern Munich.
2) Fernando Torres – £50m to Chelsea
At the time it broke our hearts to sell Torres to Chelsea, but in hindsight, it was a truly terrific piece of business, as the Spaniard’s injuries were about to see him drop from an elite striker into a less confident languid one. After the Blues signed Torres, he notched 20 Premier League goals in 110 appearances – before they allowed him to join AC Milan on a free transfer.
1) Luis Suarez – £75m to Barcelona
Suarez is the third most expensive footballer of all time, but he’s worth every penny. We failed to invest the mammoth fee we got for his services efficiently last summer, which saw us drop from title contenders to a Europa League side. The Uruguayan won a treble during his debut season in Spain, so it’s hard to begrudge him the move. We just hope another forward of such scintillating talent graces Anfield soon.
