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Luis Diaz will this week complete his £65.5m switch to Bayern Munich.

Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike have all arrived at Anfield this summer for a combined £269m in transfer fees, and with the Reds still chasing Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak in a deal that would smash the British transfer record, as well as eyeing another central defender, Liverpool are far from done.

It has been a summer window that has been somewhat out of kilter with the way that owners Fenway Sports Group have traditionally operated, where they have often baulked at paying premiums for players unless, as was the case with Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, it was supported by significant player sales.



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But spending has come before receiving this summer, although we are now at the point with the Isak deal where the club will likely want to expedite the departures of some of their saleable assets.

The first of those is Colombian winger Diaz.

His switch to Bundesliga giants Bayern came after weeks of offering rebuttals to suitors, including Barcelona and those from the Saudi Pro League, but with the door having been kicked ajar to an Isak play, the decision has been made to cash in on a 28-year-old with two years remaining on his deal who wasn’t going to engage for longer on terms that both he and Liverpool felt acceptable.

The sale of Diaz, with the guaranteed sum reported at around £65.5m, which could rise to £70m, is a classic example of FSG’s transfer strategy at work in the market, and it is a sale that takes sporting director Richard Hughes’ player sales figure to £190m since he arrived.

Profit from player sales can be booked in its entirety in an accounting year, while incoming signings have their cost spread over the life of the contract through amortisation, meaning that strong player trading can make heavy spending possible, although the deals need to be cashflowed to take into account instalments due upfront.

Add that figure to the £12.5m guaranteed from the sale of Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford, the £30m guaranteed from the sale of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen, the £10m Liverpool received from Real Madrid to hasten Trent Alexander-Arnold’s exit, and the £3m from the departure of Nat Phillips to West Bromwich Albion, and that makes £108.1m in player trading profit.

In contrast, the annual amortisation cost for 2025/26 of all the additions so far comes to £47.7m for the year.

Liverpool’s annual amortisation costs for 2023/24 were around £114.5m, some £90m lower than Chelsea, and through book value decreasing on a number of players, while the sum will rise significantly by the time the 2025/26 accounts are seen in early 2027, it will be a manageable increase, even with an Isak signing.

Should Liverpool have to pay a guaranteed £120m, for example, for the Swede, not taking into account add-ons, which are accounted for as ‘exceptional items’ on the balance sheet as and when they are triggered, then that would be £24m per year.

Even adding that to the existing annual amortisation costs from this summer’s business takes it to £71.7m, far below what Liverpool have recouped from player sales, and they are not yet done on that front.

Darwin Nunez still looks set for a Liverpool exit, with the club reportedly wanting at least £50m for the Uruguayan.

Another season of success and good player trading means that even the heavy spending won’t see the club swing to an almighty loss.

They have managed their way to be able to spend in this manner, and they can continue to spend in this way in the window, knowing that they have saleable assets should they need to offset some costs.

The wage bill will be one of the things that the club will be most keen to keep an eye on, however, and player sales will likely be motivated just as much by what the club can shave off the payroll, although the exit of Alexander-Arnold provided flexibility in that respect.

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For Liverpool, this is a summer for the ages.
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