Liverpool ‘saved’ £80m on Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister transfers

Deals for Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister last summer saw Liverpool land the midfielders for £80 million less than they are valued, a new study claims.

Szoboszlai and Mac Allister arrived at Anfield for a combined £95 million last summer – and swiftly cemented themselves as key players in the midfield.

Only Virgil van Dijk and Luis Diaz played more minutes than Mac Allister, while the pair ended the campaign tied as sixth-highest goalscorers with seven apiece.

Their importance throughout Jurgen Klopp‘s final season underlined the excellent business conducted when Liverpool activated release clauses in their contracts.

Szoboszlai arrived from RB Leipzig for £60 million, while Mac Allister was one of the bargains of the summer for any club, joining from Brighton for just £35 million.

According to a new study from the CIES Observatory, listing the 100 most valuable players worldwide based on transfer value, Liverpool were able to land the pair at a saving of £80.6 million.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Wednesday, September 27, 2023: Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai celebrates after scoring the second goal during the Football League Cup 3rd Round match between Liverpool FC and Leicester City FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

The study claims that Szoboszlai is the fourth-most valuable midfielder in the world worth £92 million – a whole £32 million more than Leipzig received.

Meanwhile, Mac Allister‘s transfer value is projected to be £83.6 million, which is a remarkable £48.6 million more than Liverpool paid for him.

Four other Liverpool players have made the top 100, those being Darwin Nunez (£91.9m), Cody Gakpo (£84.3m), Harvey Elliott (£67.4m) and Luis Diaz (£66.6m).

Nunez is considered the seventh-most valuable forward in the world behind Erling Haaland, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Julian Alvarez, Rasmus Hojlund and Kai Havertz.

Caicedo’s value plummets

LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, February 25, 2024: Liverpool's Wataru End? (L) and Chelsea's Moisés Caicedo during the Football League Cup Final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium. Liverpool won 1-0 after extra-time. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Interestingly, a player Liverpool attempted to sign last summer, Moises Caicedo, is valued at £69.4 million – that being £45.6 million less than Chelsea eventually paid for him, and £41.6 million lower than the Reds’ bid of £111 million.

Two rumoured targets for the upcoming transfer window also feature in Mohammed Kudus (£76.3m) and Johan Bakayoko (£55.6m).

The most valuable player in the world is Jude Bellingham, who CIES value at £238.8 million – having signed for Real Madrid for up to £115 million.