Has Erik ten Hag's Man Utd net spend really already surpassed Jurgen Klopp's at Liverpool?

With Manchester United seemingly set to confirm the signing of striker Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta, a curious stat went viral online.

Over the weekend, several accounts on Twitter, and across wider social media, shared the supposed fact that once Hojlund's £72m (€84m) transfer is confirmed, United manager Erik ten Hag will have overseen a higher net spend in his one year at the club than Jurgen Klopp has in his entire time at Liverpool.

It's a pretty astounding claim and, clearly, the perfect sort of ammunition for both those who wish to bash United and FSG alike.

But, is it true?

What is Liverpool's net spend under Klopp?

It is impossible to get exact data here, for obvious reasons, but using figures from Transfermarkt, Klopp has overseen a net spend of €372m – spread across eight summer and eight winter transfer windows – since his arrival at the club in October 2015.

This figure does not factor in Fabinho's impending exit for Saudi Arabia, or any other deal yet to happen before 1 September.

READ MORE: Liverpool's most expensive signings of all time

According to Transfermarkt, Liverpool's biggest spending season was in 2018/19 when the Reds spent a total of €182.2m and took in just €41m. Meanwhile, there have been three seasons (2016/17, 2017/18 and 2019/20) in which the club actually brought in more money from player sales than they spent on new arrivals.

What is Manchester United's net spend under Ten Hag?

By contrast, it is recorded that United's net outlay since Ten Hag's takeover in 2022 is a whopping €321.2m, with the club spending big money on the likes of Antony (€95m), Casemiro (€70m) and Mason Mount (€64m) and only bringing in a relatively meagre amount of €38.75m.

Should Hojlund's move be confirmed before any other transfer at either club it will then, in theory, take United's net spend under Ten Hag well beyond Liverpool's under Klopp, making the viral stat true.

What you read into that information about United, Liverpool, FSG, the Glazers and football in general is up to you.

In Football365's recently published 'net spend table', Liverpool sit seventh with a spend of (£-207.3m). The table takes into account transfer balance from the last five years.

Perhaps surprisingly, Arsenal are the club with the biggest net outlay (£-595.43m), ahead of Manchester United (£-562.56m) in second and Tottenham in third (£-437.03m).

Who will Liverpool sign this summer?

With a month left of this summer's transfer window, Liverpool remain in the mix for at least one more signing — most likely to be Southampton's 19-year-old midfielder Romeo Lavia.

The Reds are set to make a fresh bid of around £45m for the Belgian, according to Paul Joyce, having seen an initial offer knocked back.

It is unclear whether there will be further moves in the market, though it is thought that the club are looking at a left-sided centre back, while the likes of Nat Phillips, Thiago and Caoimhin Kelleher have all been linked with moves away from the club.