Morgan Rogers is becoming the latest £100m transfer in the Premier League and that will impact Liverpool's market business
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Andoni Iraola
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Andoni Iraola(Image: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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It was always going to take a fair amount to knock the World Cup from the wider public conscience for a few moments. But the emergence Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa for £117million was sufficient to make everyone sit up and take note.
With Elliot Anderson having joined Manchester City from Nottingham Forest for £116m and Tottenham Hotspur committing £100m to sign Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United already this summer, it was another example of how values in the market continue to rocket.
Liverpool haven't been shy in splashing the cash of late and were willing to spend £86m on Yan Diomande of RB Leipzig. But they are predominantly looking to bring in potential rather than finished product which, has been shown, is proving very expensive.
But is that approach still wise for Fenway Sports Group, and could the Reds be left behind this summer by their Premier League rivals? Our ECHO writers take a look...
Ian Doyle
It's perhaps fair to say Liverpool contributed as much as anyone to the eye-watering increase in fees for players in the Premier League during this transfer window.
The purchases of £116m Florian Wirtz and £125m Alexander Isak were part of a record-breaking splurge of more than £450m last summer and set the new standard for player values.
As a consequence, the knock-on effect has seen many of their rivals happily throwing around similar amounts as selling clubs stand firm on their asking prices.
Last summer's transfer spend from the Reds was all the more startling given it was very much out of keeping with the usual cautious approach from owners FSG in the market, albeit with Liverpool recouping half of their outlay. Worth remembering is Arsenal had the biggest net spend in the Premier League last year.
Now even regular sellers RB Leipzig are happy to wave away Liverpool's huge bid for Diomande. Extracting the most in-demand young talent and the more finished articles from their clubs is going to be more expensive than ever.
And, for this window at least, the work that needs to be done to the squad means the Reds should perhaps not be drawn into any bidding wars or such huge-money moves.
While the onus is on developing potential, the £60m for Jeremy Jacquet is perhaps their limit for those transfers while opportunist deals such as triggering the £34.5m release clause of Victor Munoz appears another more likely route. It might also explain why there has of yet not been the level of business that may have been expected from Liverpool.
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Paul Wheelock
Last summer's transfer business, while exciting at the time, breaking the club's transfer record not once, but twice, just did not feel very Liverpool. And it's fair to say that the £241m shelled out on Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, in particular, did not reap immediate dividends.
But as Arne Slot was at pains to point out before he paid the price for a difficult and underwhelming campaign, Isak, Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Giovanni Leoni and Giorgi Mamardashvili were not just signed for one season, but for the future.
That remains very much the case but a number of long-term injuries and departures of senior players means the Reds' squad arguably needs more surgery than it did 12 months ago.
And that is going to be difficult given the astronomical fees being asked for and paid for players who are not yet in the world-class bracket. If Morgan Rogers is worth £117m, then how much will Paris Saint-Germain ask for Bradley Barcola?
It feels that if the Reds are going to shell out a fee of nine figures for the third time in their history, or even close to it, it will be for a new winger, given the huge void left by Mohamed Salah.
But while it is hard to be the smartest club in the room anymore, which Liverpool most definitely were under Jurgen Klopp, Michael Edwards and Ian Graham, what Andoni Iraola would do to be handed an Andy Robertson or a Gini Wijnaldum by the recruitment team. The problem being, of course, is that English clubs are the ones overseeing the inflated prices and the £8m and £23m the Reds paid for those players would now be significantly higher.
Perhaps the signings of Jacquet and Munoz are instructive, then. But it's clear more are needed.