Liverpool’s last 10 first summer signings ranked: Salah 1st, £53m midfielder rock bottom
Liverpool are the only Premier League club yet to sign a player in the 2024 summer transfer window. Arne Slot’s first addition better be worth the wait.
In previous summers, the Reds have not messed around, announcing their first signings months, sometimes even a year, in advance.
With all of us waiting for Liverpool to sign a bloody player, we have ranked their first summer signing from the last 10 years, starting with the worst and finishing with the best, who has done really quite well at Anfield.
10) Naby Keita (£52.75m, 2018)
After a lengthy transfer saga, Liverpool confirmed the signing of Naby Keita from RB Leipzig in August 2017, confirming that the Guinean midfielder would officially move to Anfield the following summer, making him their first signing of the 2018 summer transfer window a cool 11 months in advance.
Keita joined the Reds as one of the most promising young midfielders in the world and even for over £50million, it looked like a good deal for the Premier League giants. It ended up being anything but. The current Werder Bremen player suffered injury after injury during his time in England and left in 2023 having made only 129 appearances under Jurgen Klopp.
£53m ended up being a big waste of money. Keita will go down as one of the most disappointing signings in Liverpool’s history. What could have been…
9) Rickie Lambert (£4m, 2014)
Lambert makes Matt Le Tissier look sane with his conspiracy theories but was once upon a time a very good footballer. So good in fact that Liverpool signed him from feeder club Southampton in 2014.
To say it never worked out for Lambert would be quite the understatement, but not quite as bizarre as speaking positively to glasses of water.
The 42-year-old was excellent at Southampton, earning promotions to the Championship and Premier League while scoring 117 goals and providing 58 assists in five years on the south coast. He departed a club legend but could not reach those heights at Liverpool, netting three times in 36 appearances and swiftly losing his place in the England squad before his mind after retiring.
8) Sepp van den Berg (£1.3m, 2019)
The first player on this list still at the club, Dutch defender Van den Berg is not expected to be at Liverpool much longer, with Arne Slot reportedly looking to sell.
Van den Berg thought he was being pranked when he received the call about joining the Reds and despite a lack of first-team opportunities, he has developed well with loan spells at Preston, Schalke and most recently Mainz.
His value has soared and Liverpool are hoping to get £20m for the centre-back, which would be a very tidy profit. Ultimately, though, this signing has been disappointing given Van den Berg has only made four competitive appearances for the Reds.
7) Fabio Carvalho (£5m, 2022)
Liverpool did well to beat the competition for Carvalho’s signature but his time at Anfield has been underwhelming. We expected a lot from the Portuguese winger when he joined and an exit this summer looks likely.
There are still high expectations of Carvalho despite a difficult Anfield career and he can be sold for a big profit, meaning he is a respectable seventh on our list.
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6) Kostas Tsimikas (£11.75m, 2020)
As far as back-up left-backs go, Tsimikas is a very decent one. He is far from excellent but a fairly capable replacement for Andy Robertson whenever he is injured or suspended.
The £11.75m fee is a respectable one too. There are probably only two players whose placement here is simply not up for debate and the Greek defender is one of them. There is no chance any of the preceding four have been better, and there is no chance he has been better than any of the five above him.
5) Ibrahima Konate (£36m, 2021)
We are big fans of Ibrahima Konate, but his injury problems are bloody frustrating. He is a serious talent and an outstanding modern-day defender. But, yeah, those injuries are a real pain in the backside. The Frenchman has only played 51 times in the Premier League in three years. Even in his last season at RB Leipzig, Konate could only manage 14 Bundesliga appearances.
Regardless, the £36m fee that Liverpool paid to sign him from the German side is very respectable. If he can become more durable, Konate has the potential to be the best centre-back in Our League.
4) Alexis Mac Allister (£35m, 2023)
Alexis Mac Allister only joined Liverpool last year and that is the sole reason he is not on the podium. He has a great chance of surpassing the two players in third and second. Not first, though. Not a chance.
Liverpool got Mac Allister for a bargain price of £35m because of a release clause that saw him move for roughly half his value just a few months after winning the World Cup.
The Argentine had a slow start at Anfield after being used as a No. 6 but grew into a role further up the pitch when Wataru Endo’s form improved. He was Liverpool’s best player in the second half of 23/24 and we are expecting another big year from him under Arne Slot.
3) Joel Matip (free, 2017)
In February 2017, Liverpool confirmed the signing of Joel Matip after reaching a pre-contract agreement and the Cameroonian will go down as one of the best free transfer signings in Premier League history.
Matip gets in Jurgen Klopp’s best Liverpool XI, which only played together once: in the 2019 Champions League final win vs Tottenham. He was incredibly consistent during his time in England and leaves a club icon after failing to earn a contract extension after a serious knee injury.
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2) James Milner (free, 2015)
Speaking of superb free transfer signings…
James Milner reportedly turned down more money from Manchester City to join Liverpool for nothing in the 2015 summer transfer window, becoming one of Brendan Rodgers’ final signings at the club.
Milner was encouraged to join Liverpool after making it clear he wanted to play in his natural position of central midfield but we will remember the current Brighton man for his incredible contribution playing here, there and everywhere, doing a job wherever and whenever Klopp needed him.
1) Mohamed Salah (£44m, 2017)
Mo Salah was announced as a Liverpool player for an initial £34m on June 23, 2017, coming before Dominic Solanke’s transfer from Chelsea was officially official, giving us a very convincing gold medalist.
He has done a bit well at Liverpool. Slightly better than he did at Chelsea. Just the 300 goal contributions, seven major trophies, three Premier League Golden Boots, on top of FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Players’ Player of the Year doubles.
Milner and Matip were brilliant (especially for free) but do not hold a candle to Salah, who might leave Liverpool as the best attacker to ever play for them. And they’ve had a few decent ones.
👉 More: Liverpool news | Every Premier League transfer completed in the summer of 2024