Liverpool's summer window rated: 9/10 is a stunning coup, 4/10 baffles
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(Credit: Manh Tung - Breaking Media, Imago)
Oliver Walton
Sun 7 September 2025 8:00, UK
Liverpool went big in the summer window as they aim to retain their Premier League crown under Arne Slot this season.
The Reds cruised to the title last season in Arne Slot‘s first season in charge, but their chiefs did not rest on their laurels over the summer as they orchestrated one of the biggest windows in the club’s history.
Numerous top players have arrived on Merseyside to add to the Dutch manager’s already strong squad, while key players and those on the fringes have departed for pastures new.
Liverpool will be aiming for success on all fronts this term, as a result, and Football Insider have reviewed and graded all of their summer moves both in and out of Anfield.
Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media
Hugo Ekitike (£79m permanent move from Eintracht Frankfurt) – 8
As shown by his fast start to life at Anfield, Ekitike has all the makings of a top striker who looks set to be a regular scorer in the Premier League in years to come.
Liverpool beat off strong competition from Newcastle to sign Ekitike, and while they have continued to add to their striker ranks, he looks likely to nail down a place in the starting eleven as the season progresses.
Top marks.
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Florian Wirtz (£116.5m permanent move from Bayer Leverkusen) – 8
Wirtz has experienced a slower start since he joined the Reds in the summer, yet his clear talent and potential means he deserves a good mark in these ratings.
Credit: Imago
The Germany international commanded a British record transfer fee, and for good reason too, considering he netted double figures for goals and assists in both of his previous two seasons at Leverkusen.
Milos Kerkez (£40m permanent move from Bournemouth) – 7
The left-back enjoyed a stellar campaign at Bournemouth last term, but he has not particularly shone so far this season despite being trusted to start over Andy Robertson.
He is still only 21-years-old, though, and should be a regular in Liverpool’s defence for a number of years to come, hence why he has been marked a seven out of 10.
Giovanni Leoni (£26m permanent move from Parma) – 7
Leoni is another who Liverpool won the race to sign ahead of Newcastle, but the Magpies may not be as dismayed at missing out on him given his lack of experience at the top level.
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He is only 18-years-old and played just 17 games in Serie A at Parma before this move, so could be a star in the future, but is likely far from the finished product right now, so cannot be marked any higher.
Jeremie Frimpong (£29.5m permanent move from Bayer Leverkusen) – 4 – (Worst move)
Frimpong is highly-rated from his time at Leverkusen, but is he the right man for Liverpool?
The early evidence is that he may not be, and indeed is a baffling signing.
Yes, Liverpool needed a Trent Alexander-Arnold succession plan but the signs are that they already had what they needed in their squad, but just had to use it differently.
Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media
Dominik Szoboszlai has been Liverpool’s best player in their last two games after being press-ganged into a new right-back role, with his stellar defensive skill-set and incredible energy ideally suited to a deeper role that doesn’t require as much eye-of-the-needle passing in tight spaces.
With the highly capable Connor Bradley an unused substitute against Arsenal, and Joe Gomez a useful fill-in option for tricky away days, Arne Slot already has three strong/serviceable options at right-back.
Do they really need the former Man City man as well?
Unless, he is seen more as a right-sided attacking option who can provide cover and competition for the off-the-boil Mohamed Salah.
Alexander Isak (£125m permanent move from Newcastle United) – 9 – (Star deal)
Isak finally sealed his move to Liverpool on deadline day after a summer-long saga that saw him release statements reaffirming his desire to leave Newcastle and fail to appear in any of their first three league outings.
Simply put, he is one of the best strikers in world football right now, and adding him to Slot’s squad should make the Reds an unstoppable force this season and for numerous years to come.
AppearancesGoalsAssists1096211Isak’s Newcastle career stats
With that said, he is clearly a nine out of 10 and the club’s best signing all summer, with one mark deducted because of the drama that surrounded the move.
But, however you view that unseemly saga, one thing is for sure: this is a stunning coup for Liverpool and he instantly makes their team better and big title favourites.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£10m permanent move to Real Madrid) – 8
Alexander-Arnold was always leaving Liverpool this summer, and is only included on this list because they were able to sell him for a fee just a month before he was set to depart for nothing at the end of his contract.
Real Madrid coughed up around £10m to sign the right-back in June so he could play in the Club World Cup, and he did well for them initially but sat out injured as they crashed out in the semi-finals, so Liverpool will be laughing all the way to the bank with their millions after this move.
(Credit Hasan Karin, Breaking Media)
Luis Diaz (£65m permanent move to Bayern Munich) – 8
Diaz was a decent performer for Liverpool in his three years at the club, but did only net 29 goals in 103 league games for the club and was often called out by supporters for his inconsistencies.
To get such a high fee for a player that will turn 29-years-old midway through this season is great business from the Reds, and they have already replaced him well with Ekitike, while Rio Ngumoha has emerged out of the academy to provide left-wing back-up.
Darwin Nunez (£56.6m permanent move to Al-Hilal) – 8
Nunez is another who shone on occasion at Anfield, but was always criticised by their supporters because of his shortcomings in front of goal.
Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media
The Uruguayan striker needed to be moved on this summer so Slot could bring in players that he wanted, and getting this kind of fee for him deserves a high mark.
Jarell Quansah (£35m permanent move to Bayer Leverkusen) – 7
Liverpool missed out on Marc Guehi’s signature after Crystal Palace pulled the plug on the deal, so they may be somewhat regretting their decision to sell Quansah.
Despite that, they are known to have included a £51m buy-back clause in the England centre-back’s contract [Daily Mirror] with improved contract terms already signed off, so this still deserves a decent mark as he will likely end up back at the club soon enough.
Harvey Elliott (loan with £35m obligation to buy to Aston Villa) – 7
Elliott is another who has a buy-back clause in his contract following his move to Villa, and he also needed to leave the club this summer ahead of a likely lack of minutes this term.
Credit: Hasan Karim – Breaking Media
Him moving to the Second City club makes a lot of sense for all parties, as he is set to be a starter, should be able to get into the England senior set-up, and will surely also return to Anfield in a few years when he is ready to play a bigger part.
Ben Doak (£25m permanent move to Bournemouth) – 8
Young winger Doak has been highly-rated at Anfield for a number of years, but such a big fee for a player of his inexperience would have been way too good to turn down this summer.
In a common theme from their outgoings, Doak’s deal also includes a buy-back clause [Sky Sports], and so this move deserves high marks as it makes a lot of sense from a business and footballing point of view.
Caoimhin Kelleher (£18m permanent move to Brentford) – 6
Kelleher hardly ever put a foot wrong for Liverpool during his time stepping into the side in Alisson’s place, and it seems strange to think that they have let him go just to replace him with Giorgio Mamardashvili.
(Credit Imago)
The former Valencia stopper is not clearly better than Kelleher, nor does he possess the same experience in the Premier League and Champions League, so letting the Ireland international leave just seems a bit pointless.
Kostas Tsimikas (loan to Roma) – 8
Kerkez’s arrival meant the writing was on the wall for Tsimikas all summer, with Andy Robertson set to stay after he was named as Slot’s new vice-captain.
The Greek international has made the move to Roma, who are in the Europa League and should push for a top-five Serie A finish this season, while he will return with one year left on his Liverpool deal next summer and so should complete a low-key permanent move away.
Tyler Morton (£15m permanent move to Lyon), Nat Phillips (£3m permanent move to West Brom) – 8
Both of these players have left Liverpool for good after spending the last few seasons either out on loan or on the fringes of the first-team squad.
Morton never seemed likely to make the leap into being a regular under Slot, while Phillips’ always looked unlikely to have any kind of future at the club and so had to leave permanently at any cost this summer.
Luca Stephenson (loan to Dundee United), James McConnell (loan to Ajax), Viteslav Jaros (loan to Ajax), Lewis Koumas (loan to Birmingham) and Owen Beck (loan to Derby) – 8
These five youngsters have been grouped together after each going out on loan to clubs where they are much more likely to play regularly and catch Slot’s attention.
Each move seems to make sense from their respective points of view, and McConnell and Jaros in particular will each be ones to watch as Ajax take part in the Champions League.