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EPL There was a time where a successful transfer window was judged on the quality of the incoming players. But in the era of profit and sustainability rules, it’s also about how well clubs can sell. In this respect, Liverpool have — along with Manchester City — perhaps the best record in the country. This summer, the Premier League champions have raised £194million to help cover some of their mammoth £419m spend (figures increase by around £30m on either side when including add-ons). In contrast, Manchester United struggled to fix up members of their ‘bomb squad’ until very late in the window, while Arsenal also found it far harder to shift players than sign new ones. In fact, only two clubs — Chelsea and Bournemouth — raised more money from sales this summer. ‘New’ money from the Saudi Pro League continues to help as Al Hilal were willing to pay more than any European club to land Darwin Nunez for €53m (£45. 9m; $61. 7m), with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho having previously moved to Saudi for large fees. Advertisement Yet it is the significant funds Liverpool have extracted from other top-flight clubs across Europe that stand out. They sold Luis Diaz, Nunez and Caoimhin Kelleher after holding tight on their efforts to reach certain valuations. They made big profits on young fringe players Jarell Quansah, Harvey Elliott, Ben Doak and Tyler Morton. And while failing to secure Trent Alexander-Arnold on a new contract was costly, Liverpool did claw back some cash when Real Madrid paid £8. 4m to sign him early for the Club World Cup. These are the secrets to Liverpool’s selling strategy and what makes their record so formidable. Perhaps this purple patch for sales should have been expected. Michael Edwards. Liverpool’s former sporting director, rejoined owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) as CEO of football in March 2024 and has a striking track record in securing large fees for players. Philippe Coutinho, sold for £142m to Barcelona in 2018, is the standout example, but just as impressive in his first period at the club were the sums collected for Jordon Ibe, Brad Smith, Kevin Stewart, Danny Ward, Mamadou Sakho, Rhian Brewster, Harry Wilson and Neco Williams. Liverpool did not come to regret any of these sales, but were able to use the cash generated to build the squad that served Jurgen Klopp so well. Yet it is another Edwards recruit, Richard Hughes, who has taken centre-stage as sporting director. Hughes has brought in around £290m in the three transfer windows, maintaining the impressive selling record he had at Bournemouth. Dominic Solanke, Nathan Ake, Aaron Ramsdale, Tyrone Mings and Arnaut Danjuma were among the players Hughes acquired and then sold for handsome profits. Since his departure, Illia Zabarnyi, Dango Ouattara and Milos Kerkez — all Hughes signings — have also departed for large sums, the latter to Liverpool. Liverpool are, of course, operating in a different market to Bournemouth but there are similarities with the approach Hughes has taken at both. Advertisement Doak is perhaps one of the best examples. The 19-year-old, who cost Liverpool £600, 000 in 2022, had made only three Premier League appearances but Hughes and the club were aware of a market for him, having blocked approaches from Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town last season. Hughes fielded calls from multiple clubs this summer, including Nottingham Forest, who wanted to take him on loan, but a decision was made to only entertain permanent offers. Liverpool were prepared to sit tight and even use Doak as a bit-part player if their valuation wasn’t met, a position that effectively (even if unintentionally) drove up the price. When Bournemouth eventually reached £2om rising to £25m, a figure that Liverpool were happy with, they decided to sell, although a buyback clause was added to give Liverpool a degree of control should Doak fulfil his potential. Liverpool’s careful management of Doak, including a successful loan to Middlesbrough last season, helped their negotiating position. All Liverpool’s loans are strategically placed based on criteria including stylistic fit, the potential club’s previous record with loan players, how much the loanee will play and the environment the club can offer. Delegations from Merseyside are sent to possible destination clubs to check facilities, and players are visited during the season. Edwards and FSG technical director Julian Ward both met Doak at Middlesbrough in December, for example. “What they do really well is build up their players and create value, ” says a representative of a senior player at the club, speaking anonymously to protect their relationships. FSG’s approach has always been to create a self-sustainable model and the club’s executive structure is robust: Edwards reports to the FSG board, Hughes reports to Edwards, and Slot — as Liverpool’s first ‘head coach’ — reports to Hughes. The pair speak multiple times a day during a transfer window to discuss incomings, sales and contract negotiations. Advertisement The stage at which each member of the senior leadership team gets involved in sales depends on the size and complexity of the deal. Slot’s role is different to his previous clubs AZ and Feyenoord, where he knew top players would be sold if bigger clubs came calling. At Anfield, that pressure does not exist. If he wants to keep a player, there’s a greater chance of that happening. Ultimately, however, the health of the business is paramount — a point underlined by the sale of Diaz. Slot enjoyed working with Diaz. For much of the summer, Liverpool officials were adamant the 28-year-old would not be sold. They swerved interest from Saudi Arabia, rejected bids from Barcelona and initially made it clear to Bayern through Hughes that there was no interest in selling. There was a complicating factor in Diaz himself, who had expressed a desire to leave at different stages after failing to agree a new contract, but it was only when Bayern raised their offer to €75m (the third-biggest fee they had ever paid) that Liverpool felt compelled to agree. When Liverpool’s data team calculated that only seven other players over the age of 28 had switched clubs for a higher fee, it was felt that the decision represented good business, especially given the arrivals of Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, the emergence of Rio Ngumoha and the continued tracking of Alexander Isak. Bayern required little persuading in recognising Diaz’s talents. Where Liverpool’s record really stands out is in the selling of fringe players for fees that, when added together, help explain why they have been able to be so active with incomings this summer. Last year, two backup players, Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho, were sold to Brentford in deals worth up to £52. 5m. Van den Berg had not played a Premier League game and Carvalho had just 13 appearances to his name. Advertisement Securing the right deal for Van den Berg required considerable negotiations. Even the Dutch defender questioned his big price tag. “If you want to leave, then £20m is quite a lot, ” he told The Athletic during the pre-season tour of the United States last July. “My first reaction was that it was quite high! It is a compliment in one way. ” Brentford were not initially willing to pay the £20m (plus £5m in add-ons) fee but Hughes put together a compelling argument showing how defenders of a similar profile fetched matching fees. It was another example of Liverpool shrewdly using the loan system to enhance a player’s value, with Van den Berg having kicked on at Bundesliga outfit Mainz in 2023-24. The respect that Hughes has engendered in the industry is clear from the amount of repeated business he conducts with clubs. The good faith built up in discussions with Brentford helped facilitate the London club’s move for Kelleher this summer in a deal which could be worth up to £18m. Given Kelleher was entering the final year of his contract, that again represented sound business with Giorgi Mamardashvili already signed to provide backup for Alisson. Bayer Leverkusen have also developed a strong relationship with Hughes, who got on well with Leverkusen CEO Simon Rolfes during negotiations over Wirtz. The pair developed a mutual understanding of how deals needed to be structured to please their respective bosses. For Wirtz, the figures had to remain within the boundaries set by FSG, but Rolfes also had to show his board that, by letting a key player leave, he was securing a significant price. Quansah’s move was separate from the Wirtz talks but still required lengthy discussions. Again, Liverpool highlighted the valuations of other centre-halves — including Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, who was the subject of an offer worth up to £43m from Manchester United last summer — as reason to hold tight, especially as Quansah appeared to be getting closer to the England team. Advertisement When it came to striking an agreement, the structure of the deal was also key. The inclusion of a buyback clause helped keep the price down for Leverkusen but also helped Liverpool justify letting a senior player leave. It was a similar case for Elliott when he joined Aston Villa on deadline day on loan for the season with an obligation to buy, dependent on him making 10 appearances this season. Initially, Liverpool valued the 22-year-old at £50m but allowed him to leave for a package worth around £35m that included a buyback option and a favourable sell-on clause. With Isak, Ekitike, Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong pushing Elliott further down the pecking order, Liverpool felt that by moving him to a strong Premier League rival, where he can grow in value, they can still benefit from his future success. Rival clubs know what they are getting when they deal with Liverpool. Edwards is a respected figure from his time at the top of the game, while Hughes is well known to powerful agents through his time at Bournemouth. Many player representatives use the same sorts of terms when asked for their opinion of Hughes: he is deemed “hard working” and “knowing the market inside out”. Others say he’s “fair” and “understanding”, but can be tough. Matt Newberry, previously Liverpool’s head of senior academy recruitment and head of loan management, is another key figure in his role as director of global talent. He has helped identify temporary moves for players ahead of future sales. Not every decision has been straightforward. Hughes, in particular, has made tough decisions that could have backfired, such as refusing to allow Morton to leave on loan last season when Bayer Leverkusen came calling. When Liverpool missed out on Spanish midfielder Martin Zubimendi, it was decided that Morton would only be allowed to leave on a permanent transfer, and if not, he would be used as backup. That move duly materialised this summer with an £8. 6m deal to Lyon, rising to £13m this summer. It was also Hughes who prevented goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros from leaving last summer because he was concerned about Alisson’s injury record. Jaros, fresh off a league and cup double with Sturm Graz, was eager for minutes, but staying proved valuable as he was promoted to No 2 during Alisson’s two-month absence. Advertisement By fully explaining the process and outlining how an opportunity to leave this summer was likely, it helped keep the two players motivated while also building up interest from other teams. Jaros, 24, has joined Ajax on loan and could become another academy graduate to be sold for a healthy profit, as could Lewis Koumas, who was loaned to Birmingham City for the season but without a buy option as Liverpool feel a fine season could increase the 19-year-old’s value. There were other opportunities to sell players, including James Mc Connell, Owen Beck and Luca Stephenson, but Liverpool held firm, showing that if the valuations are not met, then players will not be sold on the cheap. All have now been loaned. It’s that long-term strategy that is now paying dividends. Only Chelsea and Bournemouth have raised more money than Liverpool through player sales this summer, but their records come with caveats — in Chelsea’s case because many of their sales represent a loss, and in Bournemouth’s because their starting XI has been weakened. Other top clubs, meanwhile, can only look on with envy at Liverpool’s ability to secure top price for their talent, especially Arsenal, whose record sale remains Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s £35m move to Liverpool in 2017. Liverpool, in contrast, have sold seven players for more than that sum since then. The champions, meanwhile, may prove this season that they’re actually stronger for the changes and with the amount of money coming back into the club, the balance sheet looks healthy, too. (Top photos: Luis Diaz, left, and Richard Hughes; Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Gregg Evans is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering Liverpool. Previously he reported on Aston Villa and spent over a decade at the Birmingham Mail covering West Midlands football. His time with Villa included the drop into the Championship and then an incredible return to European football. He also covers golf. Follow Gregg on Twitter @greggevans40