Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
It was a decade ago that Jurgen Klopp memorably stated that he wouldn't spend £100m on a player, the then-Liverpool boss reacting to the rising transfer fees being dished out by the club's rivals.
The market has certainly changed since then, as has Liverpool's approach to signings, embarking on a lavish spree of spending under Richard Hughes' watch.
Not one, not two, but three players have been snapped up for £100m+ over the past 12 months at Anfield, a level of investment that hasn't, as yet, been rewarded with drastic on-field improvements.
"If you bring one player in for £100m and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney," Klopp said in 2016.
"The day that this is football, I'm not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together."
It is early days, of course, for Bradley Barcola, while Alexander Isak has begun to find his goalscoring groove, but will it ever click into gear for Florian Wirtz?
Florian Wirtz vs the Premier League's £100m+ signings
Liverpool won't need telling that marquee deals don't always work out, with the baggage and expectation that such eye-watering transfer fees bring so often weighing a player down.
most expensive premier league signings ever (timeless - isak, barcola, enzo fernandez, rice, tonali, caicedo, wirtz)
There have been 11 players signed by Premier League clubs to date who have fetched £100m plus, with Wirtz certainly not alone in having underwhelmed among that select group.
The division's first £100m man, Jack Grealish, notably won the treble at Manchester City, yet he now finds himself out on loan at Everton for the second season in a row, having never truly been himself under Pep Guardiola's watch.
REUTERS/Matthew Childs
Fellow England star, Declan Rice, has been a roaring success at Arsenal, winning the Premier League title last year, while Moises Caicedo remains central to everything good about Chelsea, having opted to join the Blues despite rampant Liverpool interest.
His former midfield colleague, Enzo Fernandez, has twice warranted a £100m-plus investment, the Argentine already off the mark for Man City after his mega-money switch this summer.
Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
It's perhaps too early to truly judge that deal, as it is for Barcola, Sandro Tonali, Elliot Anderson and Morgan Rogers, albeit with the latter man already registering seven goals and assists in his first seven games under Xabi Alonso at Stamford Bridge.
In 55 games for Liverpool, by contrast, Wirtz has chalked up only 18 goals and assists, just one of which has come so far this season.
That record simply isn't up to scratch, it must be said, with the Reds perhaps set to be offered the chance to sign an upgrade.
How Liverpool could upgrade on Wirtz
There's no sense that the Merseysiders are already plotting an exit route for their £116m man, yet his recent woes have highlighted the need for at least some form of competition in that number ten berth.
As it stands, Andoni Iraola doesn't really have a clear alternative in that role, with Dominik Szoboszlai seemingly at his best as an all-action number eight instead.
Signing a playmaker may well be a priority for 2027, therefore, with reports previously indicating that Barcelona's Dani Olmo might be on the market in the new year.
Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
More intriguingly, however, TEAMtalk have reported that Liverpool could also be ready to pounce on the chaos surrounding Man City by moving for Rayan Cherki, with a queue of clubs positioning themselves to sign the 23-year-old.
Arsenal are also in the mix, as per the report, with Cherki likely to be flooded with offers if City are forced to cash in, following this breach of financial regulations.
What should be Liverpool's starting midfield?
Liverpool might already have a leg up on their rivals in that chase, having held talks with the player prior to his £30m move to the Etihad last year, although the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain are also sniffing around.
That interest from Europe's elite showcases just how highly regarded Cherki is, the Frenchman previously lauded as a "future Ballon d'Or winner" by The Athletic's Alexander Barker.
Similar praise has fallen Wirtz's way too, amid his prior rise at Bayer Leverkusen, although the difference is that while the German has struggled to adapt to life in English football, Cherki has been a roaring success in Manchester.
Again, the £30m transfer fee perhaps helped to temper expectations, but even so, Cherki's quality has shone through over the last 12 months, a truly unique footballer, it must be said.
Rayan-Cherki
It's an era of at-times rigid, structured Premier League football, yet the former Lyon man has been a breath of fresh air, playing the game to the beat of his own drum.
He's not seen flying around the pitch as Wirtz might, but he doesn't need to when he's so effective in the final third, having racked up 33 goals and assists in his first 64 games for the Citizens.
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25/26 Premier League Creators
Assists
21- Fernandes
12 - Cherki
11 - Bowen
8 - Haaland
7 - Garner
7 - Szoboszlai
7 - Wilson
7 - Salah
In the Premier League, Cherki scored and assisted 16 goals last term, while creating 19 'big chances' and averaging a stellar 1.5 successful dribbles per game. He's already on five goals and assists this season too.
That's such a superior record to what Wirtz has chalked up, the 23-year-old registering eight goals and assists in 2025/26, despite starting eight more games, having created just five 'big chances' and averaged only 1.2 successful dribbles per game.
REUTERS/Phil Noble