Liverpool financial news with Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold contracts impact explained ahead of summer transfer window
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Arne Slot head coach of Liverpool with Trent Alexander-Arnold
Liverpool have a big summer ahead with Trent Alexander-Arnold, pictured left, one of a several players who could leave Arne Slot's team
(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool have nine matches to go to cement themselves as Premier League champions for 2024/25, a testament to the foundations laid by Jurgen Klopp before his departure last summer and since built upon by Arne Slot. Yet, cracks are beginning to show in a structure that may require attentive work over the summer if things don't go the Reds' way.
Having suffered for a brief period during which they fell away from the Premier League title fight and Europe's elite, Liverpool are back on top and well-placed to lift the English title for a joint-record 20th time in their history. Slot's tactical refinements have allowed this so with by far the best attacking record in the division, 69 goals scored, and their 27 conceded is the second-best defensive return of all 20 clubs.
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This is despite the most glaring issue of all - their three biggest stars are all currently set to be out of contract on June 30. Top contributor in front of goal Mohamed Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and vice captain Trent Alexander-Arnold could all depart with solutions yet to be found.
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The latter, especially, has created a lot of noise in recent days with claims of Real Madrid actively working to break up the band. Lesson learned throughout the campaign have also only strengthened ideas that certain areas of the Liverpool squad need fixing before we start again for 2025/26.
Reach PLC's Business of Football writer Dave Powell has had a look at Liverpool's financial position ahead of what could prove to be a vital summer at Anfield.
"For Liverpool fans the phrase ‘next summer’ is something that has long been bandied around rather sarcastically online," Powell said.
"Fenway Sports Group’s ownership of the Reds hasn’t always been universally popular. While FSG have been turned around the mess that they inherited on and off the field over the past 15 years or so, it is the approach to the transfer market that has frustrated some sections of the Reds fanbase, unhappy at the US owners’ more frugal approach at times when they feel they should have been more aggressive and built on periods of success.
"This summer is an interesting one. While it looks like a new right back to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold will be a near certainty given his expected switch to Real Madrid, just how active the Reds need to be in the market depends on the ability to tie down Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah to new deals, the two vital parts of the Reds machine also the two highest earners and able to walk away for free this summer should they so wish. The understanding is that neither party wants that to happen.
"Working on the assumption that both stay, Liverpool’s focus will still likely be on a potential midfield option to take some of the burden off Ryan Gravenberch next season, while a Darwin Nunez exit at this point seems more likely than not. A new number nine may well be on the cards, but parting with sums of around £150m for Alexander Isak seems a little ambitious given FSG’s track record in the market, although he does fit the profile."
For whatever plans the Reds have in the pipeline, the first question to ask is, do they have the money to fund such ambitious ideas?
"In terms of what the club can spend, they have plenty of room for manoeuvre," explains Powell. "The club made a £57m loss for 2023/24 despite record revenues of £614m, but that was for a season without Champions League football and without other sums such as summer concerts (the three sell-out Taylor Swift performances came after financial year end) and increased merit payments for a higher finish in the Premier League.
"Liverpool, despite their last-16 exit to Paris Saint-Germain in this season’s Champions League, had a superb record in the revamped league phase, and their total money accumulated from prize money, broadcast sums and additional matchday revenue will be in the region of £100m. They are likely to find themselves returning to, or close to, the black when the 2024/25 accounting period comes to an end on May 31, with those figures made public in 11 months time.
"According to estimates from football finance expert Swiss Ramble, the club’s PSR position for 2024 gave them around £153m in headroom when it came to how much they were able to lose. The 2025 cycle will see the £7million profit from 2021/22 drop off the assessment period, but that could be replaced by a healthy figure for 2024/25, potentially creating even more headroom.
"Current transfer debt sits at £128m, but that is well down from the £172m in 2019. Amortisation, the remaining book value of players, sits at around £114m, far less than some of their big six rivals.
"The wages to turnover ratio has sat between 66% and 63%, where it currently stands, over the last five years, and while the £386m wage bill for 2024 is set to rise in 2025 due to likely bonuses for winning the Premier League, that ratio will remain in the range it has been for some time.
"Liverpool have the flexibility to move on players they feel impactful, as evidenced by the £111m bid for Moises Caicedo in 2023. But that is not to say this is the summer of spend given the variables that remain in play, most notably Salah and Van Dijk’s future," Powell concludes.
"They can address issues in the market, though, and it is that keen eye on maintaining financial stability that has afforded them the ability to do that at a time when rivals such as Manchester United and Chelsea will have to move around the furniture once more to try and make the numbers work to add significantly."