This is what Richard Hughes' £450m transfer window spend has done to Liverpool | OneFootball

Liverpool fans were rightly exultant by transfer deadline day.

Sporting director Richard Hughes completed £450m worth of signings - breaking the British transfer record for Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz.

Others were acquired at high cost - Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Giovanni Leoni and Giorgi Mamardashvili. Hughes also negotiated outgoing deals totalling around £200m - meaning the transfer outlay wasn’t as big as might have been expected.

But here we are - more than three months into the 2025/26 season - and the Reds are learning that titles aren’t defended on paper.

It’s one thing celebrating what could be landmark acquisitions - but the reality is that right now there is a massive malfunction at the club.

LFC x adidas

Shop the home range today!

LFC x adidas

Shop the goalkeeper range today

LFC x adidas Third Kit

Shop the third kit range today!

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has been unable to formulate a plan to get the best out of his new signings and is also counting the count of losing certain players.

So in hindsight - how good WAS Liverpool’s window? And should the club be better or worse off for those deals? Let’s go through it line by line.

ARRIVALS

Jeremie Frimpong - £29.5m

Signed as a potential replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold and / or Mohamed Salah, we are yet to see the best of the Dutchman. It’s true that he’s not a natural right-back and will always look more at home in a wing-back position or further up the pitch. He’s also on his second hamstring injury of the season.

Verdict: Not at all what Liverpool needed

Florian Wirtz - £100m (potentially rising to £116m)

Supposedly sold a tactical dream by Arne Slot, the German playmaker should in time become the centre-piece of the Liverpool attack. But right now he’s struggling and - like former Leverkusen teammate Frimpong - is currently out injured. Without a goal or an assist in the Premier League, Wirtz has recently been shifted from his No10 station to the left wing. This was not the plan.

Verdict: An awkward fit

Milos Kerkez - £40m

Regarded as one of the best young defenders in world football, Kerkez was signed with a big reputation and should have been relied upon to be Liverpool’s left-back for a decade. He’s got a massive learning curve ahead of him but at 21 he’s no kid any more. Has been culpable for plenty of individual errors - looking lost at times. It speaks volumes that Andy Robertson still looks the best choice.

Verdict: Not the player Liverpool thought he was

Giorgi Mamardashvili - £24m (potentially rising to £29m)

Signed to be Alisson Becker’s backup, given the Brazilian’s patchy injury record he was always going to get games. Has kept only one Premier League clean sheet but that’s not always his fault given how poor the Reds have been at the back. But his post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed total (-2.4) is the worst of his career. Two seasons ago at Valencia it was +10.2. If he is going to be Liverpool’s No1 someday then he’s got to start making a bigger impression. It’s awkward for Richard Hughes that Caoimhin Kelleher is better.

Verdict: Backup material right now

Hugo Ekitike - £69m

Newcastle wanted him, Liverpool got him. And in the strange lull before Alexander Isak built up match fitness he was arguably the Reds’ best player. But things have gone against the 23-year-old of late and he hasn’t scored a Premier League goal since September. In all honesty Ekitike hasn’t looked the same player since being sent off versus Southampton for taking his shirt off. Liverpool cannot get the ball to their forwards well enough at the moment so the blame is not all on him. Currently injured, Ekitike’s signing looked strange once a deal was done for Isak. It’s going to be hard to keep them both happy.

Verdict: Shown promise

Giovanni Leoni - £26m

The Italian comes with the reputation as one of the best emerging centre-backs in the world. And, sadly for him, he is not likely to be play again this season due to injury. Would probably have won a place in the team by now at the expense of Ibrahima Konate had he not torn his ACL on debut versus Southampton. But one must ponder why Hughes didn’t pay around £10m more for Marc Guehi earlier in the window rather than signing a project player.

Verdict: Unlucky but his signing shouldn’t have been a priority

Alexander Isak - £125m

Liverpool got their man after a long transfer chase which saw the club throw their weight around for a sought-after target. This was supposed to be THE statement signing. But it’s a disaster so far. To recap: He was signed without a preseason and therefore unfit. Since he’s come into the side he’s scored once and been absent due to a hamstring injury. Has made next to no impact and looks a shadow of his former self. The 26-year-old has had ONE shot on target in the Premier League this season. And it goes without saying he didn’t score it. Oh, and he’s the most expensive player in British football history - as well as the third most expensive player ever. This signing had better start working out soon.

DEPARTURES

Trent Alexander-Arnold - £10m

Liverpool renewed Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah. While there was no indication that Trent would have been receptive to a new deal - whatever the wages - this alone has been the single most damaging transfer of the Richard Hughes era. We miss him terribly.

Verdict: The crucial component whose departure has derailed the entire team

Caoimhin Kelleher - £12.5m

One of Liverpool’s most beloved players, he was never going to sign a new deal so long as Alisson was No1. What a shame that he couldn’t have been given guarantees over his future. Established as a Premier League starter, as we always thought he would be. Verdict: Given away at that price

Jarell Quansah - £30m

Ahead of Trent in the England reckoning and playing at the highest level week in, week out. We can understand the attraction of selling a young player at a decent price for “pure profit” purposes but Quansah could easily have done a job this season. Thankfully he has a buyback clause.

Verdict: Short-sighted sale

Luis Diaz - £60m

Financial considerations were put ahead of the needs of the team. If his replacement at No7 - Florian Wirtz - gets anywhere close to his goals total by the end of the season he will have done very well indeed. Liverpool miss his pressing, his adaptability and his willingness to take people on. Alongside Trent, the most damaging sale.

Verdict: You don’t know what you’ve got till its gone

Tyler Morton - £10m

Another young player practically given away as the club attempted to claw back some money in sales. He is proving at Lyon that - with the confidence of the manager - he would be ready for first-team duties. A crying shame that a homegrown player who loves the club was told to pack up and move elsewhere at a time when Liverpool are requiring a midfielder. Slot should have given him a chance.

Verdict: Very regrettable sale - especially at that price

Darwin Nunez - £46m

Liverpool’s most expensive player until last summer, the Reds sold him for approximately half the price they acquired him for. Didn’t have his best season but worked hard for the team with his relentless pressing. Liverpool miss his energy if not his goalscoring prowess.

Verdict: A necessary sale but one which should have brought in more money

Ben Gannon-Doak - £20m

Given his exposure to top-level football this represented a great return on an academy player. However Liverpool could do with some urgency down the right flank and he may have got a chance by now if he had stayed.

Verdict: Had to go at that price

Harvey Elliott - loan (view to £35m signing)

Elliott looks like he is going to fail to reach the number of games required in order to trigger a £35m permanent deal. The playmaker moved on loan to Aston Villa expecting first-team football but this deal has been a real wake-up call for him. He may even end up back early from his loan spell. Liverpool will soon be welcoming back Elliott with only one year left on his deal and practically no chance of achieving the £35m Villa pledged last summer.

© IMAGO - Richard Hughes Arne Slot Liverpool