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By LEWIS STEELE, FOOTBALL REPORTER Published: 02: 15 AEST, 20 August 2025 | Updated: 05: 16 AEST, 20 August 2025 9 View comments There is a phrase within the industry that some of the bigwigs in the offices of Premier League clubs are starting to call ‘Liverpool tax’. It refers to the champions’ knack of eking every penny out of a potential deal and selling their assets for healthy prices when other teams might not have been able to get anywhere near as much money for the same player. Liverpool are not just the kings of England but also kings of the transfer market. If they sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle, or Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, this is a window that will be looked back on for years to come… especially if it propels them to back-to-back league titles. The headline figure is the big, fat £321million they have spent on eight new players, from £116m Florian Wirtz to the latest buy, £26m 18-year-old Giovanni Leoni. ‘How can they afford to spend that? ,’ ask rival fans. ‘Surely that falls foul of financial rules? ’ Well, it does not. The reasons for that are tenfold, but the main one is the other key number of Liverpool’s summer: £217m. That is the money they have recouped from selling eight players.   Darwin Nunez won the Premier League with Liverpool but Arne Slot was happy to move him on Nunez joined Saudi side Al Hilal for £46. 3million after an underwhelming three years at Anfield As with their signings, both numbers factor in potential add-ons being achieved but regardless, the rough net expenditure figure will be around the same. Only Bournemouth and Chelsea have seen more cash come into their clubs this summer. The Cherries, of course, sold the heart of their team with Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi and Milos Kerkez making big moves to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool respectively. These departures mean that despite spending more than anyone in the Premier League, Liverpool are not top of the ‘net spend table’ – a ridiculed concept, we know. Instead that is Manchester United, having so far failed to sell any of their so-called ‘bomb squad’. To be fair, given the excruciatingly bad season at Old Trafford last term, it should not come as a surprise that nobody wants to buy their star men, let alone the players Ruben Amorim does not fancy. Liverpool’s sales fall into three categories: those who wanted to leave (Trent Alexander-Arnold); talented youngsters for whom they have received good money (Jarell Quansah, Ben Gannon Doak, Tyler Morton); and players allowed to go if the price is right (Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Caoimhin Kelleher, Nat Phillips). Each of those deals has its own backstory that makes the Anfield hierarchy look good. For instance, it was already known Alexander-Arnold had played his last game for Liverpool when sporting director Richard Hughes secured a £10m cheque from Real Madrid. Yes, if we are being honest, the fact he was allowed to run down his contract is a failure on behalf of the club’s top brass, but Hughes inherited that situation. Daily Mail Sport understands Madrid's opening offer was £850, 000, so £10m looks a shrewd deal. Diaz, who scored 17 goals in all competitions last season, was not pushed towards the exit door. Arne Slot liked him a lot, but the Colombian was in search of a new contract on terms Liverpool were not prepared to pay for a player who would have been 30 by the time his existing deal expired. Luis Diaz moved to Bayern Munich and Liverpool were happy to bag £65. 5m for the Colombian Jarrell Quansah, playing for Bayer Leverkusen against Chelsea in pre-season, went for £35m The forward had also privately asked to leave last summer and, believe it or not, Manchester City were one of the clubs who contacted his entourage back then alongside Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr. Fast forward to this summer. Barcelona came knocking in early June and expressed their interest to sign Diaz for around £50m, but they were told where to go. From the outside that felt like ‘case closed’ but, as we wrote at the time, it felt like the door for a sale was still ajar. Inside the Bayern Munich powerhouse, they thought Liverpool exploited every weakness of chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen and forced the German giants to overpay for a player who, at 28, is the wrong age profile for the players they chase. Fingers, as they always are at Bayern, were pointed after they forked out £65. 5m. Liverpool, though, were laughing all the way to the bank: satisfied to receive such a sum and make a profit on a player who had given them three-and-a-half solid years and would likely leave for peanuts in a couple of seasons. Speaking of profit, the three best sales this summer have been those of Quansah, Morton and Gannon Doak, the latter of whom joined Bournemouth this week for £25m three years after leaving Celtic for £600, 000. Gannon Doak, 19, is fast, direct and exciting, once described as a ‘Tasmanian devil’ by Virgil van Dijk. But given injury problems that have stalked his senior career, £25m is a good deal for Liverpool, especially considering the fact Slot did not seem to rate him as highly as his predecessor Jurgen Klopp. Quansah broke through under Klopp in 2023-24 and started last season as Van Dijk’s defensive partner, but he struggled for confidence and form last season after being hooked at half-time of the Reds' Premier League opener at Ipswich. Liverpool still like the aforementioned trio and have inserted buyback clauses. Historically, those agreements have mostly been used by clubs as insurance, but this summer City demonstrated how to use them well by sneaking in to bring James Trafford home from Burnley. Real Madrid paid Liverpool £10m to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold in time for the Club World Cup Ben Gannon Doak was another big summer sale for Liverpool, joining Bournemouth for £25m It is believed there is a pre-existing agreement for a contract if they decide to buy Quansah back from Bayer Leverkusen. There is no reason that could not become a reality if he were to play every week in the Bundesliga, especially given how the Reds will need to evolve their back line. Liverpool also cashed in on Morton, who joined Lyon for £15m, after the midfielder had a positive campaign for England as they retained their Under 21 European Championship title. The three youngsters are good but a combined £75m is excellent business, especially given two are pure profit. Liverpool being good at selling is nothing new. When Hughes was being criticised by supporters last year for a lack of signings, those inside the building were heralding him for extracting £52. 5m out of Brentford for the double sale of Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg. Some clubs were not prepared to meet the Reds' £25m asking price for defender Van den Berg but Hughes, stubbornly, pointed to his experience on loan in the Championship and Bundesliga compared to other defenders who had moved that summer at a similar age. One was £20m Taylor Harwood-Bellis and the other was £15. 2m Dean Huijsen, who has since moved on for £50m from Bournemouth to Real Madrid. Given the prowess of the laptop gurus at Liverpool, they will have known Van den Berg was no future £50m man. So off he went, striking while the iron was hot. It was similar with Morton, for whom some unenticing bids were turned down last year. Hughes pointed to Adam Wharton, who had similar Championship experience before his move from Blackburn to Crystal Palace. A year on, they got a good fee for Morton. Even though they were pleased with the money for Morton, his value would almost certainly be higher if they had not blocked a loan move to Leverkusen, where he would have played often, in favour of a sale last year. So even though they have a lot of wins, they are not all astounding successes.   Nunez is the main case in point. Signed for £85m from Benfica in 2022, he was compared to Erling Haaland but ultimately must go down as a flop despite scoring some important goals. Liverpool hope to strike a deal for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi before the window shuts Alexander Isak is on strike at Newcastle as the striker tries to force through a move to Liverpool Getting £46. 3m from Saudi side Al Hilal for the Uruguayan represents a loss, but it is also a fee Liverpool may view as a good deal. Napoli were keen but got nowhere near that figure in negotiations. The Reds felt vindicated for standing firm in January when the Saudis came knocking. Luis Diaz (B Munich) £65. 5m Darwin Nunez (Al Hilal) £46. 3m Jarell Quansah (Leverkusen) £35m Ben Gannon Doak (Bournemouth) £25m  Caoimhin Kelleher (Brentford) £18m Tyler Morton (Lyon) £15m  Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid) £10m Nat Phillips (West Brom) £3m SUMMER TOTAL: £217. 8m  More sales could follow, though things are quiet at the moment in terms of enquiries for Kostas Tsimikas, and RB Leipzig are yet to follow up on expressing their interest for Harvey Elliott.   Federico Chiesa, the hero of Friday's nervy 4-2 win over Bournemouth in Liverpool's opening Premier League game, now seems more likely to stay put than leave. But that £217m recouped could easily rise in the next fortnight. Overall, Liverpool’s canny business in terms of sales has allowed them to spend lavishly, with £321m spent on signings and more to follow if Newcastle and Crystal Palace play ball over Alexander Isak and Guehi. It means they can afford to buy Marc Guehi – and they will do so if Palace lower their demands. It also means they can absolutely afford to buy Isak – and they will do so if Newcastle manage to sign a couple of forwards and open the door to a sale. Just like they do on the pitch, Liverpool are the kings of sitting calmly and bullying teams into submission at the negotiating table, too.

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