How Liverpool will make a transfer PROFIT this summer – even if they sign Isak

Liverpool have won the transfer window. Regardless if the Reds are successful in their chase for Alexander Isak – and it’s looking increasingly probable that they will be – there is little doubt that the Anfield club have blown their rivals out of the water this summer.

Sporting director Richard Hughes has conducted a masterclass, with his latest trick the sale of the 28-year-old Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich for €75 million. The Colombia star was only signed in January 2021, and despite showing a commendable level was never indispensable to Liverpool.

Of course, what’s really caught the headlines are the deals that the Anfield club have made.

Florian Wirtz has arrived in a €125m deal from Bayer Leverkusen that has smashed the club’s transfer record, while Hugo Ekitike has joined from Eintracht Frankfurt in a €95m deal.

Moves for Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, conducted early in the summer and exciting at the time, were mere appetisers for what was to follow.

Liverpool summer signings

Isak would simply top things off perfectly.

But arguably, the real magic of what Liverpool have achieved over the last eight weeks has been on their balance sheet.

Luis Diaz sale key for Liverpool’s plans

From a financial perspective, at least, Arne Slot’s side stand to make a profit from their transfer trading this summer, despite a spend that may not fall too far short of €500m.

This will be achieved due to the way that transfers are calculated on club accounts. While sales are recorded as lump sum figures, signings are spread out over the duration of the player’s contract up to a maximum of five years.

So from an accounting standpoint, Florian Wirtz will only be a €25m cost this season. This is comprehensively offset by the €75m the club will record in their books thanks to the sale of Luis Diaz.

Indeed, the Diaz deal covers all Liverpool’s summer spending so far – and even if they sign Isak for the €170m reported fee it will represent a huge contribution to the total. The Swede will count only €34m in the books as an outgoing, while Ekitike’s reported six-year deal goes down for €18m.

More deals, of course, are in the pipeline. Darwin Nunez is a player who Slot wants to wash his hands off. The energetic but wasteful striker has been linked to Serie A clubs but looks likelier to move to the Saudi Pro League in a deal that could also generate substantial revenue for Reds.

And this comes after they have already recouped more than €63m in transfers this summer, headlined by Jarell Quansah.

The deal struck for England defender might yet go down as Liverpool’s best of the summer. In getting €35m for him, they not only secured €10m more than his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV), but they also installed a €60m buy-back clause that insures against the 22-year-old excelling and ultimately moving elsewhere.

Any potential problems?

Of course, all this is not without some risk. Liverpool face substantial payments in the future that will need to be serviced and problems could arise should the likes of Wirtz, Ekitike and Isak flop, but no one is seriously forecasting that.

Moreover, this group of players that Hughes has so expertly assembled ensures the need to dip back into the transfer market so significantly in the years ahead looks limited. With the exceptions of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, who recently signed new deals, Slot’s key figures are all approaching their peak years.

Liverpool’s position, then, looks very healthy indeed.