Slot On A Spending Spree In His Second Season At Liverpool | Calculated Move Or Gamble? | OneFootball

Nobody saw Liverpool conquering the Premier League title, particularly with Jurgen Klopp’s departure and Arne Slot’s appointment as the successor of the charismatic German. The Dutchman was hardly backed financially over the past two windows. Yet, his success is not a miracle but a masterstroke from Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes.

Trust The Data, Do Not Panic!

Edwards spearheaded the managerial search and eventually approved the then-Feyenoord boss as the best candidate to carry the legacy. FSG’s CEO of football relied on Will Spearman, the director of research, and his team to find a suitable replacement with similarities to Klopp’s style of play, values and vision. He also roped in Hughes, with whom he has a professional and personal relationship spanning over 20 years. The Scotsman’s stupendous work at Bournemouth played a significant role in landing the Liverpool job.

Hughes, the club’s director of football, received the supporters’ backlash, citing a lack of ambition. Besides snapping up players, a sporting director is responsible for setting up the data departments, monitoring youth teams, recruiting physios, nutritionists and scouts. He took time to identify the issues and is now addressing them aggressively by bolstering the squad with top-notch signings.

Timing Is Key

Liverpool received a massive setback when Trent Alexander-Arnold decided to run his contract down and opt for a move to Real Madrid on a Bosman. However, the Blancos were desperate to have the Englishman before June’s Club World Cup, and Hughes made the opportunity count by snatching £10m from the Spanish giants for the right fullback’s additional one month’s service. The club then took no time to announce Jeremie Frimpong’s £29.5m arrival from Bayer Leverkusen as the like-for-like replacement for Alexander-Arnold.

ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – SEPTEMBER 19: Florian Wirtz of Bayer 04 Leverkusen celebrates scoring his team’s third goal with teammate Jeremie Frimpong during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 match between Feyenoord and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at De Kuip on September 19, 2024, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Frimpong is not the only Leverkusen player Hughes was after. Despite the Reds’ Moneyball and sell-to-buy approach to balance the funds, they always insisted on chasing the right player, no matter how expensive he would be. Florian Wirtz is one such name who has been on the radar for a while, and the Merseysiders did not hesitate to splash a club-record £109m for the German playmaker to hijack the deal from Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

The decline of Andrew Robertson and the mediocrity of Kostas Tsimikas troubled the Reds all season. Hughes is expected to raid Bournemouth, his former club, to rope in Milos Kerkez and resolve the left-back conundrum. Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was an opportunistic signing last summer but spent the season at Valencia, will report to Anfield before pre-season in a bid to replace Alisson Becker between the sticks in the long run. Caoimhín Kelleher’s potential move to Brentford should see them recoup the money invested in the Georgian custodian.

Moneyball In Motion

Liverpool are also chasing several other targets, including Eintracht Frankfurt hitman Hugo Ekitike. But they will perform a mass exodus, particularly in attack, with Darwin Nunez could be offloaded in due time. Offers for Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota would also be entertained, and the champions might cash in on an array of fringe players to raise funds for a centre-back and defensive midfielder. The experience of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah would be key to setting the NxGn stars in motion; also, Slot will have the ammunition in his arsenal that he has earned by successfully inheriting Jurgen Klopp’s juggernaut.