SUMMER SIMULATION: LIVERPOOL TIPPED TO SPEND £138M AS ARNE SLOT TARGETS FOUR MAJOR SIGNINGS
Liverpool's summer plans revealed! Discover the £138M simulation featuring Lee Kang-In, Hector Fort, and Salah’s shock decision.
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Liverpool has a fascinating summer ahead, at least if you’re willing to trust Football Manager’s predictions.
Last year, they spent big. Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Milos Kerkez are huge names with huge fees. The idea was to lock in a new era at the top of the Premier League. Honestly, it hasn’t panned out yet.
Now Arne Slot’s second season is slipping away from the title race, and Liverpool looks like they’re back at square one. With Arsenal and Manchester City pulling ahead, it’s easy to imagine another busy summer at Anfield. But where do they even start? And who’s actually on their shopping list?
Curiosity got the better of us, so we fired up Football Manager 2026 to see what the data gods think. According to the game, Liverpool will spend around £138 million in the coming window. That’s a lot, but who are they bringing in, and who’s heading for the exit?
Football Manager thinks Liverpool is going shopping in Paris and Barcelona.
So, here’s how the simulated summer went: Liverpool brought in four new faces. Three of them cost a fair chunk, but nothing quite as jaw-dropping as last year’s signings.
First up, PSG’s Lee Kang-In arrives for £38 million. He’s quick and technical and can play on either wing – a pretty believable move, given all the rumours about his future in Paris.
Then, for the midfield, Liverpool turned to Feyenoord’s Quentin Timber. He’s got Premier League blood; his brother Jurriën plays for Arsenal, and he joins on loan with a £49 million purchase clause. To be honest, that’s steep for Timber, but Football Manager isn’t always in sync with real-life transfer values.
Defence gets some attention too: Barcelona’s Héctor Fort, only 20, joins for £42 million. He’s a versatile full-back who can cover both sides or even slot into the middle. Right now, he’s more of a squad option than a guaranteed starter, but there’s a lot of upside there.
Finally, there’s a wildcard: Álvaro Montoro from Botafogo, a young Argentine forward. He costs £9 million and looks like a classic “one for the future” signing—numbers look good, and at that price, he might turn out to be a steal.
But who’s leaving? Let’s break it down.
No massive exits at least, according to the simulation
Here’s the surprising part: none of Liverpool’s biggest names pack their bags. Mohamed Salah stays put, turning down those endless Saudi links. Andrew Robertson signs a new deal, and Ibrahima Konaté does the same. How realistic is that? Time will tell soon enough.
That explains why Liverpool’s spending feels a bit more low-key this time. They’re patching holes, not rebuilding from scratch. Still, a few players do head out.
Wataru Endo moves to Inter Milan for £5.5 million and slots right into their midfield. Owen Beck goes to West Ham on a loan with a buy option just under £7 million. Stefan Bajčetić, who’s had awful luck with injuries, heads to Middlesbrough on loan. And Lewis Koumas, still just 18, takes an unexpected detour to APOEL in Cyprus, also on loan.
So, all in all, it’s a pretty cautious window. Honestly, it’d be a shock if Salah, Konaté, and Robertson all stick around for another year, but maybe Liverpool just need time to let this group settle, rather than tearing things up again. We’ll see soon enough.
FINANCIAL EXPERTS PREDICT £120M HIT IF LIVERPOOL MISS 2026-27 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOT
Liverpool face a £120m disaster: Read about the Champions League race, Arne Slot’s anger, and the impact of the £400m summer spend.
Liverpool’s in a tight spot right now. After losing to Wolves at Molineux, they’re clinging to fifth place, usually good enough for a Champions League spot, but the cushion isn’t exactly comfortable. They’re just three points ahead of Chelsea, who still have a game in hand against Aston Villa. That race is heating up fast.
Virgil van Dijk summed it up pretty well: “Either we get it, and we deserve it, or we don’t get it, and we don’t deserve it. If you play for Liverpool, it’s always been like this. It’s down to us, together with our fans, to get the results we need to get into the Champions League.” He also mentioned that Arne Slot, the head coach, wasn’t exactly thrilled after the loss; “angry” was the word he used.
But it’s not just about pride or missing out on big European nights. There’s a lot of money on the line. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire pointed out that missing out on the Champions League could leave a big dent in Liverpool’s bank account, even if the club runs pretty sensibly these days.
UEFA’s numbers tell the story. Liverpool earned €98.1 million (£85.3 million/$114 million) just for reaching the last 16 of the 2024–25 Champions League. Compare that to the Europa League, where they only received €26.8 million (£23.3 million/$31.1 million) for reaching the quarterfinals last season. The gap is massive.
Even winning the lesser European trophies doesn’t come close. Tottenham got €41.4 million (£36 million/$48.1 million) for winning the Europa League, and Chelsea picked up €21.8 million (£20 million/$26.7 million) for the Conference League. It’s nowhere near what Champions League teams bring home.
Maguire also pointed out the other hits: fewer home match days, less broadcast cash, and sponsors that pay out less when the club misses the top tier. He reckons missing out could cost Liverpool around £120 million ($160 million). Still, he doesn’t think it’ll sink the club.
And it’s not like Liverpool have been shy about spending. Last summer alone, they shelled out more than £400 million ($534.5 million) on big names like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak – the biggest single-window spend in football history, actually.
Even with all that, Liverpool just reported record revenues of £703 million ($939 million) for the year ending May 2025, turning a modest £8 million ($10.7 million) profit. And here’s the kicker: despite that wild summer, Liverpool ranks only eighth in net transfer spend over the past five years. They’ve been splashing the cash, sure, but they’ve kept things balanced in the long run.
WHAT’S MISSING? WHY 16 GOALS AND 6 ASSISTS AREN'T ENOUGH FOR HUGO EKITIKE
Liverpool's top scorer Hugo Ekitike reflects on a massive win at Anfield and explains why he’s still hungry for more goals.
Hugo Ekitike isn’t exactly thrilled with his goal tally for Liverpool this season, even though he’s still leading the pack as the club’s top scorer.
He got his 16th goal of the season on Saturday, kicking things off in Liverpool’s 5-2 win over West Ham at Anfield. Not bad for his debut year. Plus, the 23-year-old, who came over from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer for up to £79 million, set up two more goals for Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo. That puts him at 22 goal involvements so far.
Still, Ekitike thinks he’s got a lot more to give. He missed solid chances against Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, and Manchester City recently, and that’s still bugging him.
“To be honest, I could score more,” he said. “I’m not that happy! But it’s not just about goals; it’s assists too. On Saturday, I set up one or two. As long as I’m helping the team and being involved, that’s what really matters. I want to win, so in that way, I’m happy.
“Obviously, I can improve. I could’ve scored in those last games; I had some good chances. So I’ll keep working. I want to be the best I can for the team, because I know I can do more.
“It’s all about learning and getting better. I’ll try to step it up in the next games, score more, and get involved even more.”
His goal against West Ham came after Liverpool kept the pressure on from a corner. Four of their goals that day came straight from, or just after, set pieces.
“We had some problems at the start of the season,” Ekitike said about Liverpool’s set-piece struggles. “We’ve all talked about it and worked on it together in training. It’s great to see it paying off now. We deserved it; honestly, we’ve put a lot of work into this.”
Saturday was the first of seven huge games in just over three weeks. Liverpool were up 3-0 at halftime, but West Ham didn’t just roll over; they made Liverpool work for it in the second half, fighting to stay out of the relegation zone.
Talking to liverpoolfc.com, Ekitike said, “Scoring early in games like that helps, for the team and for the fans. You feel more confident. And going in at halftime 3-0 up, that’s always good.
“But they showed it’s not over till it’s over, they fought back, and we let a couple in. When that happens, you have to score more, and we did. We got five.
“We’ve got to keep going, because there’s a long way left in the season. But yeah, I’m really happy. That win mattered.”
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