Why can't Liverpool make signings AND renew contracts?

Liverpool added only Federico Chiesa in the summer transfer window. The Italian moved from Juventus for a fee that could eventually reach £12.5 million.

Giorgi Mamardashvili was also signed but isn’t due to arrive at Anfield until summer 2025. He remains on loan at Valencia with the Reds having paid a fee which could reach around £34m for the Georgian goalkeeper.

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Liverpool’s net spend over the course of the 2024/25 season stands at around £4m. That is an astonishingly low sum in this day and age and it speaks to Arne Slot’s capabilities as a coach that he’s got them on the brink of the Premier League title.

Instead of spending their way to glory, Liverpool have set about that journey a little differently.

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The priority all season long when it comes to transfer business has been described as getting Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk to sign new contracts. Sadly, that has proven fruitless so far.

Ahead of the transfer window in January, word was sent out that Liverpool would be conducting no business because they wanted to tie up those new deals. There is however a contract standoff between the club and their star players.

Liverpool's huge renewal costs

It may well be the case that Trent leaves - although if Real Madrid discard their interest due to his injury record then Liverpool might well sign him to a renewal.

Where once it seemed the Van Dijk would sign a new contract as a formality, it now appears that the door is open to the likes of Paris Saint-Germain or Al Hilal to beat Liverpool’s offer.

That is the situation FSG and sporting director Richard Hughes got themselves into when they allowed those contracts to tick down to their final six months.

And what of Salah?

Liverpool’s record earner - on £350,000 per week - has been engaged in a media war of sorts this season with his employers. He would like to stay and he would of course like to earn well.

But it doesn’t appear Liverpool are prepared to go that far for Salah and he too has been placed in an uncertain scenario.

The effect of all of this is that Liverpool’s summer transfer business is currently affected.

Simply put: Liverpool will need to retain or replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk. And until the deals are signed - or the players released - then no one is really sure what’s going to happen in the market.

Liverpool will have to pay big fees to replace those three; and if they renew, they aren’t going to come cheap either. Issues beyond right-back, centre-back and right-wing will have to put on hold until the futures of these three are sorted.

Liverpool's budget black hole

But there is another issue at play.

“If Van Dijk and Salah sign extensions, less business will need to be conducted this summer, but those contracts would still put a dent in the funds available for transfers,” says James Pearce of the Athletic.

Having spent barely anything over the past 12 months, what gives?

There is a new stand, providing more income, Champions League broadcast and prize money, and a bumper new deal with Adidas lined up.

Where’s the dough?

Well there’s a £57m pre-tax loss to report for a start. And a year without Champions League football blew a hole in the budget. Liverpool might be frugal but they are not flush.

Liverpool paying out HUGE wages

It may also be the case that the drain on the club’s resources through wages is what is holding them back in the market.

It was reported a couple of weeks ago that Liverpool now had the fifth-highest wage bill in all of European football. That was according to the UEFA European Club Finance and Investment Landscape report, which estimated the wage bill at €449m (£376m) - behind only PSG, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Liverpool are already paying out roughly £40m per season for Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold. They might be able to afford to keep them but if they do, it’s unlikely that anyone else can get to that level of salary.

And so that is why Liverpool’s uncertain contract scenario is bleeding into the summer transfer business. It will probably be a case of choosing their three tried and tested stars or finding new ones in the market.

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“It’s down to [FSG CEO of Football Michael] Edwards and Hughes to decide how best to spend the money the club generates,” says Pearce.

We all know what that means. Liverpool spending on incomings what they make in sales - just like they did in the case of Chiesa and Mamardashvili.

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