Over the past 10 years, only four other Premier League clubs have consistently found value in the transfer market than Liverpool, a new financial study claims.
It has been the club’s remit since Fenway Sports Group took over in 2010, operating under a self-sustaining model that can only survive with expertise in the transfer market.
During the FSG era, there have been considerable outlays, with all 15 of the club’s most-expensive signings coming during their 12 years in charge so far.
Thankfully, the approach has been refined from the days of Andy Carroll joining for a record fee, and it is rare now that a transfer does not pay off for Liverpool.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, in a study ranging from 2012 to now, of the £878.5 million spent on players over the past 10 years, the Reds received £829.6 million worth of talent.
That is a ‘loss’ of £48.9 million, or 5.6 percent – which, actually, stands up well when compared to the rest of the Premier League.
Man City (two percent ‘loss’), Brighton (0.3 percent ‘gain’), Tottenham (0.6 percent ‘gain’) and Wolves (seven percent ‘gain’) are the only other sides to have found more value.
Among Europe’s top five leagues, there are 40 clubs deemed worse than Liverpool in finding value, with Ligue 1 outfit Stade Rennais leading with a 30.1 percent ‘loss’.
Only six clubs have invested more on players than Liverpool since 2012, with Juventus (22.7%), PSG (16%), Man United (14.9%) and Chelsea (10.1%) posting considerable losses on their investment.
Setting aside the clear oversight when it comes to Man City‘s finances, the study serves to highlight how effective Liverpool’s recruitment and talent identification model has been.
Though Michael Edwards has now moved on, the foundations are still in place for this to continue under his replacement, Julian Ward.
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