Hughes lifts the lid on Liverpool summer spree
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Richard Hughes has offered a rare insight into Liverpool’s summer of spending.
No expense was spared as Arne Slot’s side eclipsed the Premier League’s record outlay with £446 million sanctioned in the window including two British record deals.
Alexander Isak’s deadline-day arrival from Newcastle saw the Reds add six new faces as they attempt to successfully defend their 20th league championship.
Hughes oversaw that unprecedented outlay as sporting director which was offset by close to a quarter of a billion in sales from the previous campaign’s senior squad.
The 46-year-old explained the process behind Liverpool’s uncharacteristic spending and insists that owners Fenway Sports Group paid ‘fair market value’ for all targets.
“As best you can, you have to detach yourself from what the transfer fee is likely to be,” Hughes told the IMG x RedBird Summit.
“First and foremost, the identification of the right player for the right system for the right head coach has a fair amount of importance, and I think this is not something that’s necessarily new for the football club and its ownership.
“If you look at what was paid for Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk in history and you equate that to what that would be in 2025 money, you’re not far away from where you are with some of the fees that have been spent this summer.
“We pay what we believe to be fair market value for a player based on age and based on necessity of that individual to fit into the squad.
“In the fullness of time, we hope that, instead of talking now about what a huge fee it is, it has been value for money for the football club whenever we’re making that assessment in the future.
“And because of the ages of the players that we’ve bought, we’re confident that will end up being the case.”