Arne Slot said that the record of the British transfer costs of Alexander Isak was ‘part of the Liverpool model’ and explained how they could spend the £ 125 million on their new striker.
Liverpool’s net expenditure came on more than £ 230 million this summer, not near the £ 35 million Aston Villa will pay Harvey Elliott next year.
Only Arsenal collected a higher net spending in a transfer window that was the most productive thing about Liverpool in terms of money issued.
Slot, however, thinks that there is a precedent in Anfield for their large money movements.
The Dutchman said: “In terms of the money issued for one player, that is also part of our model. It is not the first time we have done this.
“We did it when I wasn’t there, the property did this with Virgil, with Alisson and now also with Florian Wirtz now, this is the model we use.
“We focus on a player and we want him. We decide what his value is, if that matches what the club wants, we are not afraid to act.
“We get that money from players’ actions and winning the competition after we have not spent anything at all.”
Before the summer, Liverpool was financially in a very healthy position, due to a combination of increased prize money, players sales and only signing Federico Chiesa last summer.
• Read: Why Liverpool could spend great on transfers this summer
The Reds also paid £ 114.5 million during the 2023/24 season in the player’s amortization costs – that is the amount that Liverpool still paid in transfer costs for players purchased in previous windows.
Although £ 114.5 million may sound a lot, it was the fifth highest in the Premier League during this period. The club’s accounts were not published before 2024/25, but we know that the depreciation figure should not have increased.
For comparison: Chelsea was confronted with £ 190 million in depreciation costs for the 2023/24 season and collected a smaller turnover than Liverpool with £ 145.3 million.
Alexander Isak is not yet ‘best in the world’ – but he can be that
Of course, the main reason why Liverpool could justify their expenses to Isak, stemes from the fact that he was prepared to score goals at an elite rate.
Slot told the media, including the Liverpool Echo‘At the moment he is not [the best striker in the world] For the simple reason he has been out for four months.
“If you write, I said he is not the best in the world, you have to add or it is not entirely fair because he is one of the best in the world.
“But for him to become the best in the world, I think the best players in the world win trophies and that is what he and we have to do for him or someone else to be seen as the best or one of the best.
“I think [there are] many reasons [why we signed him] But one that may be striking for me is that he has already shown this in the Premier League and I think he is the only exception we have made in the field of signing, he is a bit older than the rest – still quite young but a little older and showed himself in the Premier League.
“We know that if he stays fit, he will be able to score goals for us. What he also adds is a huge pace and he can score with both feet, with his head, all these things that he has already done this in the Premier League is of course something extra.
“It can put him and me busy, but nothing extra than if it has this [Liverpool badge] On your shirt there is always busy, if we had not signed it, you would probably have told me that you still expect that we are still fighting for the competition, what we expect from ourselves, so this pressure is always there. “
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