Liverpool are back in Premier League action on Wednesday evening, travelling to the North East for a meeting with Sunderland.
Ahead of the tie, Arne Slot held his pre-match press conference on Tuesday morning.
During the presser, the Dutchman was asked about the impact of missing out on Champions League football.
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Cody Gakpo pictured in action during Liverpool's Premier League match against Leeds United at Elland Road.
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Going into the midweek fixtures, Liverpool are five points behind Manchester United and four adrift of Chelsea.
Their form is also much worse than their closest rivals right now, winning just one in seven compared to four victories in a row for Utd and the Blues.
In turn, there is a real possibility we won’t see Champions League football at Anfield in 2026/27, which Slot has suggested could impact summer signings.
Speaking ahead of Sunderland vs Liverpool, he said: “Acceptable? Yes. If we don’t have Champions League football it has not been an acceptable season.
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“What I said when I arrived here, we can only sign Federico Chiesa and that was after a Europa League season. So it does have an enormous impact in the way this club is run, so that is clear. I am completely aware of that.”
While Slot has a point that no top-tier European football could hinder Liverpool in their attempts to attract the very best players, FSG will still be fine from a financial perspective, though the money they will miss out on is pretty major.
Rousing The Kop have spoken exclusively to finance expert Adam Williams to gain an insight into the impact that no Champions League football could have.
While Liverpool will obviously miss out on a sizeable chunk of change, Williams explained that the club can still do business next summer.
He said: “Liverpool’s accounts for 2025-26 will be fascinating because they will tell us whether or not they have moved away from their usual strategy of paying for a significant chunk of their transfers upfront rather than through long-term instalment plans.
“The last set of accounts we have for them show that they owed £114m to other clubs in transfer fees. That was bottom half in the Premier League – Chelsea and Man United respectively, owed almost quadruple that in transfer debt. After they spent next to nothing in 2024-25, their transfer debt figure will have been one of the very lowest in the Premier League last season.
“Given the scale of their spending in the summer, one would presume that they would have had to rely much more heavily on instalments. No club has £450m lying around. Yes, they made money from selling players too, but those deals are most likely structured through instalments too, so they don’t get all the money upfront.
“They will have had plenty of free cash available to pay portions of the fees upfront, but I suspect that they will have had to use their revolving credit facility – which is basically an overdraft – to an extent.
“Alternatively, and this is less likely, they would have had to ask FSG for more money. There are two ways owners can get money into a club – via debt or via equity. If it had been the latter, there would be a Companies House update, so we can rule that out. And given that FSG haven’t ever put a penny into the football side of the club before, I think it’s unlikely that they would change that policy now.
“That’s a long-winded way of saying that Liverpool’s spending in the summer was probably structured heavily through instalments and perhaps some debt too.
“Let’s say their transfer debt is now £300m, of which £150m is due next season. On top of that, they have a wage bill of £400m-plus, plus operating expenses of maybe £175m. That’s £725m in free cash that you need for the season, before you make any new signings.
“As an absolute minimum, they’d be looking at £60m in prize money from the Champions League. In a good year, they’re looking at £100m-plus. On top of that, maybe £20-30m in matchday income. They aren’t going to make £725m in revenue in a non-Champions League year, in my view. But then they have incoming transfer instalments, which are going to be pretty healthy too. With those factored in, they can afford to cover their expenses without taking on more debt or asking the owners for money.
“So, yes, no Champions League football is going to have an impact, but it’s not going to mean you can’t still do a decent amount of business, depending on how you structure your transfer dealings. If you get into the Europa League, you get a half-decent amount of prize money, plus matchday income, so I think they could still spend pretty significantly if they achieved that.”
Liverpool could pull Mohamed Salah lever
Williams went on to suggest that Liverpool could save money by selling Mohamed Salah.
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Mohamed Salah scores a free-kick during Liverpool's UEFA Champions League match against Qarabag at Anfield (Credit: Getty Images/Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar
He continued: “On top of that, you’ve got the Salah lever you can pull, which will get you a decent transfer fee and save £20m in wages too.
“Generally speaking, for a club with core revenue as strong as Liverpool’s, one season outside the Champions League isn’t going to have a seismic impact on how much you can spend. There are always ways around it – it’s just a matter of being clever and cutting your cloth.”
Salah has transfer interest from the Saudi Pro League, who are thought to have made him a top target.
It remains to be seen if the 33-year-old, who is under contract until 2027, would be open to a move.
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