Liverpool: Carragher says £415m summer ‘blew up in their face’ as ‘every big decision’ has failed
Jamie Carragher says the Liverpool hierarchy deserve criticism for a summer transfer window that has “blown up in their face”.
Premier League champions Liverpool went all out last summer, spending around £415million on eight new players and smashing their transfer record twice.
Liverpool’s summer transfer business has ‘blown up in their face’
Liverpool’s recruitment in recent years has been excellent, with the club’s transfer team especially impressive when it comes to selling players.
However, the Reds went into 2025 hoping to extend the contracts of club captain Virgil van Dijk, star man Mohamed Salah and homegrown hero Trent Alexander-Arnold.
This was perhaps the first sign that the club’s imperious transfer gurus had lost their touch. While extending Salah’s contract made sense at the time, it has aged poorly, and questions remain over the decision to give Van Dijk a new deal.
Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, made the move to Real Madrid when his contract expired, and his absence has had a detrimental effect.
Liverpool did do well to recoup a combined £156.4m for Ben Doak, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah, but the energy of Diaz and Nunez, on top of the depth Quansah provided in defence, have been sorely missed this season.
There are plenty of negatives to take from the Reds’ 2025 summer transfer business, but their heavy expenditure on underperforming players who are clearly a downgrade on what Arne Slot previously had at his disposal is the biggest concern of all.
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Carragher blasts Liverpool’s summer transfer window
Former Liverpool defender Carragher acknowledged the incredible work of the club’s recruitment team but said “every big decision” last summer has “blown up in their face”.
“No recruitment team has ever been given their flowers more than Liverpool’s, and rightly so,” Carragher told The Athletic. “They’ve been really clever in the market and ahead of the game.
“But you have to look at it and say every big decision this summer — we are talking with hindsight, of course — has blown up in their face.”
Carragher did stress that extending the contracts of Salah and Van Dijk made sense at the time.
“It was very difficult for them not to give those contracts. But that hasn’t worked out quite so well.
“As for the big-money signings, Wirtz is starting to show promising signs, but still nowhere near what you want. Hopefully that comes in the second half of the season.”
Carragher ‘can’t get head around’ Liverpool summer transfer
The Reds legend has faith in Wirtz to justify his £100m+ price tag, but questioned the decision to spend another nine-figure sum on Isak, who scored three goals in 16 appearances before breaking his leg against Tottenham in December.
“Isak for me, I just could never get my head around the signing. Liverpool were always the type of club who bought the next Isak. The next Isak in their mind was Ekitike. So I don’t know why you would then buy Isak.
“He’s been very unlucky with a bad injury. But he was injury-prone at (previous club) Newcastle.
“He looked a fantastic player, but I just don’t see how you were ever going to get a £125million striker and a £69m striker (Ekitike) in the team at the same time. Especially when you buy Wirtz as a No 10.”
READ: Is Alexander Isak the floppiest flop in all of Premier League flopsville?
Carragher’s main criticisms of Liverpool
- Alexander Isak signing
- Mohamed Salah extension
- Virgil van Dijk extension
- Failure to replace Luis Diaz
Unsure why Liverpool signed both Isak and Ekitike, Carragher added that failing to replace Diaz was another major mistake.
“Then they didn’t replace Luis Diaz, which was a problem. The great players from last year just haven’t performed. So the five big decisions they made all blew up in their face. That’s why we find ourselves here.”
So, Carragher thinks that failing to replace Diaz, signing Isak, and extending the contracts of Van Dijk and Salah were all mistakes. He remains on the fence about Wirtz and did not even mention Alexander-Arnold, Nunez, Quansah, Frimpong or Kerkez…
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