Do FSG Have the Ambition to Keep Liverpool on Top?

Another transfer window has passed without Liverpool signing a player.

Arguably, it makes their third transfer window in a row without signing a first-team player. Last summer, they signed Federico Chiesa and Giorgio Mamardashvili, with the former unable to get consistent first-team minutes, and the latter not officially joining in the summer of 2025.

Liverpool have made great progress under new manager Arne Slot. Performing well in the Premier League and topping the first-ever UEFA Champions League table will have given the fans a sense of relief. Any team parting ways with a well-liked manager like Jurgen Klopp would be forgiven for thinking it would have taken at least one season to have a bedding-in period. It turns out Arne has slotted in almost perfectly.

Owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) may have wanted to wait one season before ensuring their new manager was worthy of a large transfer outlay. But after a half-season of incredibly positive play that saw Liverpool top the league, the owners had an opportunity to reinforce the squad in weaker areas this January: a striker, center-back, and left-back are all areas that can use improvement. If Trent Alexander-Arnold leaves for Real Madrid, which at this point seems more likely than not, a right-back will surely also be on the shopping list.

The headache for FSG doesn’t end there. Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Alexander-Arnold all have contracts expiring at the end of the season. So far, there has been no indication that any new deals have been agreed upon, with even Salah himself going public multiple times to comment that there has been no progress in contract talks in a perceived effort to put pressure on the owners.

Being reactive rather than proactive in the transfer market seems to be FSG’s preferred method. In the 2020-21 season, Liverpool had an injury crisis at center-back, which led the owners to scramble at the last minute in the January transfer window to sign Ozan Kabak, Ben Davies, and call up academy players Nathaniel Philips and Rhys Williams. Hardly inspiring signings, but it did help them finish in the top 4 and end the season with a trophy. Davies, to no fault of his own, was proven to be a panic signing, as he played zero minutes in the Premier League with midfielders Jordan Henderson and Fabinho being preferred to fill in at CB.

This current era of Liverpool players contains some of the world’s best in their respective positions. But they only have one Premier League title to show for it. Meanwhile, main rivals Manchester City are in a consistent phase of refreshing their squad and have many more titles for their efforts.

Since the 2016-17 Premier League season, Liverpool have ranked 6th in net spend — behind the likes of even Tottenham Hotspur — a notoriously stringent team. This January, Manchester City spent another large sum by signing Omar Marmoush, Vitor Reis, and Abdukodir Khusanov.

While the ‘Moneyball’ approach may have had its merit a little under a decade ago, it’s time for FSG to either be more generous with their spending or look to sell the club to a party that can match the club’s ambition.