Over €250 million is likely to flow into the Bundesliga alone: Why can Liverpool FC invest so much in the transfer market without getting into trouble with Financial Fair Play?

Those responsible at Liverpool FC have clearly successfully broken themselves of their usual reflexes. What the Reds did in last summer’s transfer window and are doing in the current one certainly speaks for a club for which the word “countercyclical” could have been invented. A year ago, when Jürgen Klopp’s era came to an end with a mixed season, Liverpool made virtually no new signings – only to suddenly invest heavily now that they are champions.

The transfer fees for playmaker Florian Wirtz (approx. €125 million), right-back Jeremie Frimpong (€35 to €40 million, both from Bayer Leverkusen) and left-back Milos Kerkez (approx. €47 million, Bournemouth) already total well over €200 million. And with Hugo Ekitiké, whose transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt for a sum in the region of €90 million is imminent, England’s record champions will break the €300 million mark, with the majority going to the Bundesliga.

Add to that the interest in Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, which has probably cooled off for now due to Ekitiké, for whom the Reds were reportedly willing to spend around €140 million, and the question arises: How is it possible for a Premier League club to spend so much in one summer without running into problems with the league’s and UEFA’s financial fair play rules? In 2024/25, Liverpool even generated a transfer surplus.

FC Liverpool benefits from two things: the conservative transfer policy of recent years and its recent run of success – not only on the pitch. Although the English record champions posted losses in the 2022/23 (ten million euros) and 2023/24 (66 million euros) financial years, they are expected to present very different figures for 2024/25.

The Reds can expect around €200 million in TV revenue for the championship title alone, and the increased stadium capacity at Anfield will also make itself felt for the first time. It is also helpful that the Premier League rewards long-term investments, such as those in infrastructure or youth development, in the calculation of the maximum loss a club is allowed to make over three years.

And in the transfer market, Liverpool achieved something in 2024/25 that top clubs in the Premier League tend to know only from hearsay: a profit. They spent only around €40 million on Giorgi Mamardashvili and the only “real” new signing, Federico Chiesa, while Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho (both Brentford) brought in around €45 million combined.

Financially, Liverpool is not dependent on the sale of Luis Diaz

As far as financial leeway in the current transfer window is concerned, Liverpool’s decision-makers have further trump cards up their sleeves: the new lucrative deal with equipment supplier Adidas, but above all a few players who promise far higher million-euro revenues than the already confirmed departures of Jarell Quansah (€35 million, Leverkusen), Caoimhin Kelleher (approx. €15 million, Brentford) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (approx. €10 million, Real Madrid).

For Darwin, who in three years never became the goal scorer Klopp had hoped for, Italian champions SSC Napoli recently offered €55 million, reportedly without success, while Bayern Munich could soon put over €70 million on the table for Luis Diaz. The fact that the Reds have so far stood firm in negotiations with Munich is not only because they can hardly afford Luis Diaz’s departure, also due to Diogo Jota’s death. It is also because they simply do not necessarily need the money at the moment.