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When Jurgen Klopp first took charge of Liverpool in 2015, the squad was lacking in quality and belief. The Reds had lost their top 2 goalscorers from the previous season in Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling. In addition, new signings Danny Ings and Christian Benteke were struggling to adapt to life at Anfield.
The board at Liverpool helped the German propel the team back to glory by making smart moves. Klopp’s net spend in Merseyside was £254 million compared to Pep Guardiola’s net spend of £692.3 million while at Manchester City. This shows how well they were able to rebuild their squad and demonstrates their departing manager’s superb ability to develop players.
Last Word on Football looks at Klopp’s best signing during his legendary Liverpool reign.
Top 5 Liverpool Signings of the Jurgen Klopp Reign
5. Andy Robertson
Former Hull City player Andy Robertson joined Liverpool on July 21, 2017, for just £8 million. The Scotsman started the season as the backup to Alberto Moreno but took advantage of an injury to the Spaniard in December to make the left-back position his own.
The best performance of his first term at Anfield came in a 4-3 victory over the centurion Manchester City side. Robertson didn’t let in-form winger Sterling get going against his former club and went viral for a sequence of play where he chased the ball back into City’s penalty area.
The 30-year-old has shone ever since, he has registered over ten league assists in three seasons. Robertson has become one of the most creative full-backs in Premier League history, the fact Liverpool paid so little to sign him is a testament to the Reds’ recruitment at the time.
4. Sadio Mane
On June 28, 2016, Sadio Mane joined Liverpool from Southampton and was the first Klopp signing to have a positive impact at Anfield. The £34 million the Reds paid for his services soon became a bargain.
The Senegalese winger quickly became a star player, scoring 13 goals and registering five assists in his first season in Merseyside. The addition of Mo Salah for Mane’s second campaign helped Liverpool reach the Champions League final. The 32-year-old equalized for Liverpool before Real Madrid went on to win 3-1.
In the 2018/19 term, Mane was the joint winner of the Premier League Golden Boot alongside Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He helped Liverpool take Manchester City to the final day in the Premier League title race and win the Champions League.
The Senegalese winger has never been replaced since he left for Bayern Munich two years ago. His 90 goals, many of which won them games, will see him go down as an Anfield legend.
3. Alisson
Alisson was Liverpool’s final big signing before they started winning major honours. After Loris Karius’ nightmare in the 2018 Champions League final, the manager knew he needed more quality and composure from his goalkeeper. The Brazilian shot-stopper was signed from Roma for a fee of £71.6 million, making him the most expensive goalkeeper at the time.
Liverpool won the Champions League in Alisson’s first season, the Brazilian was awarded the Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season award. The 31-year-old also won the Premier League Golden Glove as he kept 21 league clean sheets in his debut year.
The goalkeeper proved to be the missing piece in the rebuild and when he was signed they instantly became one of Europe’s best teams. He also scored a crucial header against West Brom in 2021 that helped the Reds keep their Champions League status. The Brazilian’s impact at Anfield is immeasurable and fans will hope he stays for many years to come.
2. Mo Salah
When Salah joined Liverpool, he became one of the world’s best attackers. After arriving from Roma for £36.9 million in 2017, the Egyptian broke the Premier League goal-scoring record in his first season with 32 goals.
The 31-year-old is the only member of Klopp’s famous front three who was at the team for his departure. His consistency in his seven years at Anfield has seen him break records nearly every season. Salah won the PFA Player of the Year in 2018 and 2022 alongside three golden boots in 2018, 2019, and 2022. His goal against Everton in 2018 won the FIFA Puskas Award.
His 211 Liverpool goals put him fifth on the club’s all-time scoring list. The Egyptian’s 157 Premier League goals are good enough for 10th in the Premier League’s all-time scoring charts. The 31-year-old may be passing his best but he is still determined to break even more records under Arne Slot.
1. Virgil van Dijk
When Virgil van Dijk signed from Southampton for £75 million in January 2018, he helped Liverpool’s heavy metal style become more controlled. Europe’s best teams chased the Dutchman in the summer of 2017 but the rising Reds beat the competition to sign the centre back six months later.
The now 32-year-old immediately made an impact, leading Liverpool’s improved defence to the Champions League final. Van Dijk’s brilliance was recognized with the PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2019. The Dutch international was acknowledged as one of the best players in the world, finishing behind only Lionel Messi in the 2019 Ballon d’Or.
Van Dijk became the Liverpool captain in the summer when Jordan Henderson left for Saudi Arabia. He led a young, injury-hit side to the Carabao Cup with the winning goal in the final against Chelsea. Klopp’s best signing is now looking to lead his team into a successful new era under Arne Slot.
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TODAY'S BEST
What Liverpool are now internally saying about Isak transfer after bombshell statement
Liverpool have reportedly held internal discussions over using Federico Chiesa as a makeweight in a deal for Alexander Isak. The Merseysiders have yet to make a breakthrough in negotiations for the Sweden international. That’s despite the 25-year-old having kicked up a very public fuss over ‘broken promises’ at Newcastle. Could Federico Chiesa help Liverpool sign Alexander Isak? It remains to be seen whether or not Chiesa does indeed have a future at Liverpool. The Italian international didn’t do his chances any harm, of course, with a superb contribution from the bench in a 4-2 victory over Bournemouth last week. However, Mark Brus at CaughtOffside has now exclusively revealed that the Reds have held internal discussions over the prospect of utilising the former Juventus star in talks for Isak. Moreover, it’s understood that as many as six clubs – including AC Milan, Atalanta, Inter Milan, Napoli, Roma, and Fulham – are interested in signing the attacker. Chiesa doesn’t want to leave Liverpool It shouldn’t be forgotten that Federico Chiesa’s official position is that he doesn’t want to leave Liverpool this summer. Arne Slot himself certainly hinted in his most recent presser that the club’s position on the matter had evolved. “I see a totally different Federico now than through large parts of last season, which is completely normal because he missed out on the whole pre-season,” the Dutch head coach said. Arne Slot on Federico Chiesa: “I see a totally different Federico now than through large parts of last season, which is completely normal because he missed out on the whole pre-season.” #fyp #liverpool #premierleague #chiesa #lfc ♬ original sound – Farrell Keeling The reality remains that Liverpool can hardly afford to sell another senior attacker. Beyond the former Serie A man, the Merseysiders can only call upon Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike as their remaining senior options. The forward line is looking far too slim after the departures of Darwin Nunez (Al-Hilal) and Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich). You could make the argument for a potential swap deal plus a huge chunk of cash for Isak – that would at least take our numbers up to four senior attackers. But there’s little to no chance, in our view, of Slot sanctioning Chiesa’s exit elsewhere unless both the club and player are pushing for it.
Urban Meyer pushes for Chargers or NFL to suspend Jim Harbaugh
Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer thinks the Los Angeles Chargers or the NFL should take it upon themselves to punish Jim Harbaugh. On Aug. 15, the NCAA punished Michigan for violations connected to the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal. Harbaugh received a 10-year show-cause order. During Wednesday's episode of "The Triple Option" podcast, Meyer compared Harbaugh's situation to that of Jim Tressel in 2011. Meyer argued that the league or the Chargers should suspend Harbaugh, like the Indianapolis Colts did to Tressel. "There's an elephant in the room here, boys, though, that no one's talking about," Meyer said. "When Jim Tressel was fired at Ohio State and he was given a suspension, Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, came out and said that, 'We're going to honor that suspension.' And you remember, he went to the Indianapolis Colts to work in the replay room or something. "The Colts, because of the respect they had for the NCAA and the suspension, you realize suspended Jim Tressel? So he was unable to perform his duties for the first six games of the year for the Indianapolis Colts. I think we all know the answer. Any chance that Roger Goodell and the NFL, of course not. And I don't know why." There is a belief that Harbaugh bolted to the Chargers after winning the national title in 2023 because he knew the NCAA was getting ready to punish the Wolverines. A six-game suspension is not comparable to a 10-year show-cause order, and punishing Harbaugh so lightly would be more symbolic than substantive. Frankly, it's bad business for the league to suspend Harbaugh and to connect the outspoken head coach to a trivial scandal that happened in college. Punishing Harbaugh would draw unwanted attention to the Chargers and the league, who knew what happened before he jumped to the NFL before the 2024 season.
Jerry Jones: Micah Parsons' agent told me where we could stick contract details
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants to deal with David Mulugheta insofar as to get Micah Parsons' agent to fill out the paperwork on the contract extension that was already negotiated. During an appearance with Michael Irvin on Thursday, Jones said Mulugheta told him to shove the paperwork up their heinie. "When we wanted to send the details to the agent, The agents told us to stick it up our a--," Jones said. "Just so we're clear. (Parsons) and I talked, and then we were going to send it over to the agent, and we had our agreements on term, amount, guarantees, everything. "We were going to send it over to the agent, and the agent said, 'Don't bother, because we've got all that to negotiate.' Well, I'd already negotiated. I'd already moved off my mark on several areas." Following an incoherent analogy to a child going between a mom and dad to negotiate, Jones accused Mulugheta of trying to "stick his nose" in negotiations to try to get the Cowboys to cave for a better deal for his client. Jones has no plans to back down from the agreement he had already worked out with Parsons. "In my mind, for the Dallas Cowboys, we've got it done," Jones said. "And if the agent wants to finish up the details, which he should, and do all the paperwork, he can do that, and we're ready to go. But as far as the amount of money, the years, the guarantees, all of that we negotiated." Dallas is set to conclude its preseason against the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night with no end in sight to the biggest distraction on the team this summer. Jones should have avoided the situation with Parsons by dealing with Mulugheta directly, but that might have caused the theatre to be much less dramatic before the regular season.
'Look out for this dude': Former NFL exec has warning about unexpected SEC quarterback
Blackhawks make gargantuan commitment to young forward
The Blackhawks have officially announced a seven-year extension for pending RFA forward Frank Nazar. The deal will pay him an AAV and cap hit of $6.59M for a total value of $46.13M. It’s a gargantuan commitment to the 21-year-old Nazar considering his lack of NHL experience. The 2022 No. 13 overall pick lands the richest total-value contract in league history for someone with 56 or fewer career appearances, which is Nazar’s tally entering the 2025-26 campaign. Nazar, who still has one year left on his entry-level contract before his extension will kick in for 2026-27, has yet to spend an entire season on the NHL roster. Last year was his first full run in the pros after two years at the University of Michigan, but he made his NHL debut in the final three games of 2023-24 after signing his ELC. He did not make the Blackhawks’ opening night roster but, after recording 11 goals and 24 points in 21 games for AHL Rockford, was recalled in mid-December shortly after Chicago’s coaching change and never looked back. He faltered out of the gate, recording only one assist and a -5 rating through his first 10 appearances while averaging 14:44 of ice time per game. But under interim head coach Anders Sörenson, who had overseen his early-season success in Rockford, he was extended some patience. That paid off in the long run as Nazar built confidence, including a four-game point streak in January and a run of nine points in eight games in April to end the season. All told, Nazar finished the season with a 12-14–26 scoring line 53 games — ninth on the team — and averaged nearly 16 minutes per game. While size concerns (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) created some detractors about his ability to hold down his natural center position in the NHL, he saw a fair amount of time as Chicago’s second-line middleman behind Connor Bedard. His most common deployment (107 minutes) amid an astronomical 91 different line combinations used by the Hawks last year was at 2C between Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen, although he did also see some time up on Bedard’s wing. Nazar was seen as a top-10 threat in the 2022 class, but after slipping to Chicago and missing most of his freshman year at Michigan due to injury, there were warranted doubts about his development path. He silenced them quickly with a point-per-game sophomore showing for the Wolverines and has made about as good an adjustment to pro hockey as can be expected, given the lack of quality veteran support on the Hawks’ NHL roster. A long-term bet at what’s even now a conservative second-line price point in 2025 could pay incredible dividends for the Blackhawks if he remains a long-term top-six piece, even if it’s on the wing, as the cap increases and they reward the other pieces of their young core with long-term deals. There’s also an incredible risk factor for someone still relatively early on their development track with less than a full season’s worth of NHL experience. The only recent comparable for someone with his experience is Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who signed a five-year, $45M contract after his rookie season (55 GP). Kaprizov, however, had far more professional experience after coming up through Russia’s KHL and was two years older than Nazar is now, making him a more projectable player. Kaprizov also took home the Calder Trophy that year and had twice the offensive output Nazar did. As such, the Blackhawks are betting hard on Nazar being a long-term solution, either as a wingman for Bedard or as a second-line center behind him. There’s certainly reason for optimism – he’s developed well and is coming off a spectacular World Championship showing with the United States that earned him a spot at their Olympic orientation camp. He’ll be under contract through the 2032-33 season and can walk to unrestricted free agency upon expiry. Getting Nazar’s extension out of the way now isn’t just about him, though. Chicago has two other big-ticket RFAs next summer — Bedard and new No. 1 goalie Spencer Knight — who will take serious resources to extend. They still have barely over $40M in allocated cap hits for 2026-27, though, leaving them with virtually unlimited spending power under a projected $104M cap. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet first reported the Blackhawks were signing Nazar to a seven-year extension. Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli reported a more accurate cap hit in the $6.6M range.
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