Ex-Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer has critiqued the club's transfer policy nearly a year on from the overhaul of the squad, and feels the new group is lacking one vital component
05:00, 09 May 2026
Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley, Tyler Morton and Harvey Elliott
Jason McAteer feels Liverpool lost its culture by selling so many players last summer
Jason McAteer believes last summer’s transfer decisions eroded the culture in the Liverpool dressing room that had been built over many years by Jurgen Klopp.
The Reds opted to undertake a major overhaul of their playing staff last year following the Premier League title win, with eight first-team arrivals and several notable exits.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, and Darwin Nunez were the highest-profile players to move on, with Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, and Alexander Isak among the replacements. But that transition has not been smooth, and Liverpool’s new iteration has struggled to match the standards set in Arne Slot’s first season at Anfield.
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But McAteer, who works for the club and has an insight into some of the inner workings at the first-team level, feels the decision to allow the squad’s fringe members to leave was a mistake in a summer of such upheaval.
“This culture was built at Liverpool and I just feel, I just for one reason or not, the culture has slowly eroded,” the former Republic of Ireland international said on Off the Ball.
“I think, with players leaving, I think with new players coming in, not understanding the culture, not understanding the expectation — and these aren't periphery players, these are players who have gone straight to the first team.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz left last summer(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
“These are players who have dived in at, No. 10, midfield, left-back. On top of that, you've also lost a lot of the culture. So you've lost Trent, you're lost Nunez, you lost Diaz.
“You've sadly, in such an awful way, you've lost Diogo Jota. Then on top of that, you've lost Tyler Morton, you've lost Harvey Elliott, you've lost Jarell Quansah, and you've lost Caoimhin Kelleher.“
“Now you might think they're only kids,” McAteer continued. “They have grown up in a winning culture.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 14: Jason McAteer during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Fulham FC at Anfield on December 14, 2024 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
McAteer feels Liverpool allowed its squad values to erode last summer(Image: Getty Images)
“They don't know anything else but winning. They don't know anything, they don't know what it's like to lose, and if they do lose, what it's like to continually lose. They just know how to win.
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“So they know what to do if they're losing it, what they're going to do, and how they're going to react; how to eat, how to train, how to live your life.
“They're looking at Jordan Henson, James Milner. They've got a manager, Jurgen Klopp, who is demanding, and that's what you've got to be to win.
“You've got to be at it all the time. You create the culture, and once the culture's created, then you've got a chance, and once you start winning things, for a player and an athlete, that becomes a drug.”