Liverpool moved six players at the center of Jurgen Klopp’s tenure in 2023 alone, of which one was a £40million deadline day sale. The transfers spelled a certain end was near for the German and he handed in the keys the following year.
They have not glanced back ever since Klopp left Merseyside when Arne Slot took over and won the Premier League title within his debut campaign. Also admitting that it was not his preference to manage Liverpool on “three wheels,” legendary boss Klopp announced that he would bid farewell to Anfield come January 2024 and did exactly that after the end of the 2023/24 season.
But some market activity the previous summer made it clear a new era was at hand. Star players of Klopp-led successes such as Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were transferred, with many others leaving for zero fee to initiate a new era of their own under the German manager’s replacement.
The summer of 2023 saw change galore at Merseyside, where the midfield of the club was reshaped and money was spent big time. Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, whose majestic free kick sealed the Reds their Sunday night fixture at Arsenal, were paid £35m and £61m respectively.
Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch did make summer moves but it was the outgoing that spelled new beginnings. Far before the summer deadline was to arrive, four erstwhile regular first-team regulars had opted to leave the club at contract expiry.
Roberto Firmino was one of these four and joined Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli that June. He now plies his trade at Qatari club Al Sadd. James Milner, another player who featured a useful role from the bench under Klopp, allowed his contract run out and moved on in June when joining Brighton and still is at the club. He scored his first Seagulls’ strike on Sunday when facing Manchester City.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain walked free and joined Turkish side Besiktas and is now a free agent. Midfielder Naby Keita was plagued by injury at Liverpool and was the final big player whose contract expired and became a free agent and signed with Werder Bremen. He is now at Hungarian side Ferencvaros.
A month after that, then Reds captain Henderson brought his Liverpool career to a close as well, once again inviting the new broom. The Englishman was notoriously transferred by Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq for a reported £12m.
As deadline day loomed closer, but one departure was imminent. Brazilian holding player Fabinho was another to jump ship and move to Saudi Arabia when joining Al Ittihad in a move worth £40m.
In total, six first-team players to Klopp departed for a staggering £52m of which only £40m was regained on transfer deadline day. Subsequent arrivals steadied the ship towards a new manager settling after the loss of Klopp.
All of Gravenberch, Szoboszlai and Mac Allister have been ever-willingly useful to Slot, whose Liverpool stewardship is still so nascent. Last term was particularly the case with the Dutchman, a player rejuvenated under Slot. He fell considerably further back and was more of a playmaker at No. 6.
“I was impressed at once because he was so comfortable on the ball,” Slot said when talking about new Liverpool signing Gravenberch. “I thought at once that would be a perfect asset to have. Then we had to find out during the first games of the season whether he was solid enough defensively.
“But he definitely was and now is one of those players with the most interceptions and all these kind of things. That is team dynamic as well, because if front three do not work enough it is hard enough for a six to win ball back. But has everything it takes to play at that spot very well.”
