‘All good things must come to an end and, in my case, I recently completed my final summer window as Liverpool sporting director.’
The cat is out of the bag. Michael Edwards is leaving Liverpool at the end of his contract next summer with Julian Ward stepping up to take his place. The January transfer window will be his last chance at the helm, giving him one last opportunity to enhance his Reds legacy with bargain buys and big-money sales.
Since taking over as the club’s sporting director in November 2016, Edwards has helped Jurgen Klopp build a Liverpool side that would finally return to the Champions League before reaching the final and then winning it in successive seasons, as well as being crowned world champions and ending the club’s 30-year wait to finally be crowned champions of England.
He has overseen the rise of a truly great Reds side and helped write the next chapter in their illustrious history, with the current squad no doubt hungry to add one or more trophies to their collection under Edwards’ watch and in the immediate aftermath following his departure before the next Liverpool team has to be built.
With 10 transfer windows under his belt, 22 players have been bought for a combined £487.5m in this period, according to LFC History . Meanwhile, 27 players have been sold with the club said to have banked £371.1m, with supporters inevitably hopeful both figures can be added to in January.
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Both Liverpool’s record buy and record sale have been completed during Edwards’ tenure as sporting director, but there has been so much more to his best deals than spending or receiving the biggest fees.
With that in mind, Theo Squires counts down the 10 best transfer deals Edwards has overseen since he was appointed Reds Sporting Director in November 2016.
10. Harvey Elliott (Bought for £4.3m)
It might seem premature to class Elliott as one of Edwards’ greatest deals, but he will be a crucial part of the Liverpool legacy he leaves behind.
Still only 18, the boyhood Reds fan would not have taken much persuasion to trade Craven Cottage for Anfield.
But when the teenager is clearly so talented, snapping him up for an initial £1.2m, with a tribunal ruling Fulham could be paid a maximum £4.3m, could go down as Edwards’ greatest bargain if Elliott lives up to his early potential.
9. Virgil van Dijk (Bought for £75m)
On one hand £75m is a hell of a lot of money and more than Liverpool would have needed to pay had they not admittedly made a little bit of a mess signing Van Dijk, with their summer conduct being called into question as they stepped away from a deal in the summer of 2017 before parting with a club-record fee the following January to finally acquire him.
On the other hand, the Dutchman has proven himself to be the best defender in the world and has been instrumental to Klopp’s side going on to win the Premier League and Champions League, transforming their defence with such heights not obtainable without him.
Wasting no time in rubbishing any fears he was overpriced, he has proven repeatedly that it was £75m well-spent as he became the most expensive bargain in the Reds’ history.
8. Dominic Solanke (Sold for £24m)
In 18 months at Liverpool, Solanke scored once from 27 appearances. Six of those outings came from the start.
Bought for roughly £4m compensation at the end of his Chelsea contract in the summer of 2017, Bournemouth signed the one-time England international for an initial £19m in January 2019, with add-ons since taking that figure to £24m.
Now scoring goals for fun in the Championship, Liverpool could bank further cash if the Cherries sell at a profit having included a 20% sell-on clause in the deal.
£20m profit and counting on a player who hadn’t even featured for half a season when sold and then struggled for goals in the top-flight, Solanke has certainly proven to be one of Edwards’ most successful pieces of business.
7. Alisson Becker (Bought for £65m)
Like Van Dijk, on one hand Liverpool parted with £65m to sign Alisson from Roma, which was a record for a goalkeeper at the time.
However, that asking-price had come down from £80m, prompting Edwards to return to the negotiating table and bring in one of the very best goalkeepers in the world.
A costly fee for the Brazilian but certainly money well-spent when you consider just how vital he has been to the Reds’ rise under Klopp.
6. Rhian Brewster (Sold for £23.5m)
Yet to sample Premier League football and having only made four appearances for Liverpool, Brewster only had a successful half-season on loan at Swansea City to his name when Sheffield United parted with £23.5m to sign him.
That figure looked a great deal for the Reds at the time, considering his lack of top-flight experience, with the England Under-21s international’s subsequent struggles for the Blades as they suffered relegation only enhancing just how good a deal Edwards had completed.
Now finding his feet again in the Championship, Brewster is still young enough to live up to that hefty fee but Liverpool will have no complaints about the deal so far.
5. Fabinho (Bought for £43.7m)
Liverpool had barely even been linked with Fabinho when it was announced they had agreed to sign him from Monaco for an initial £39m just days after losing the Champions League final.
The Brazilian might have taken time to settle at Anfield but he is now one of the finest holding midfielders in the world, with the Reds looking unrecognisable without him.
As crucial to Liverpool’s transformation as Van Dijk and Alisson, the £43.7m spent on him certainly looks a bargain.
4. Mamadou Sakho (Sold for £26m after £2m loan fee)
An unwanted player left rotting in the reserves for half a season after falling out with Klopp, having ended the previous season banned after failing a drugs test, though this would later be overturned, Liverpool were desperate to get Sakho off the books when sending him on loan to Crystal Palace in January 2017 for a £2m loan fee.
Returning to Anfield that summer, it was made clear that there would be no Reds revival for him and he returned to Selhurst Park in a £26m deal at the end of August.
Although popular at Palace, injuries limited his impact and he returned to France with Montpellier on a free transfer at the end of his contract last summer.
But bringing in nearly £30m for an unwanted player who had been emphatically pushed towards the exit door remains one of Edwards’ smartest deals.
3. Mohamed Salah (Bought for £43.9m)
A Chelsea flop at the time of his Liverpool arrival, eyebrows were raised when the Reds parted with an initial £36.9m to Salah.
Officially Edwards’ first signing as sporting director, 140 goals from 217 appearances to fire Klopp’s side to Premier League and Champions League glory, the Egyptian has made a mockery of any such concerns in the years that have followed.
Now the best player in the world on current form, he will become the highest-paid player in Liverpool’s history if they are able to get him to commit to a new contract.
Take a bow, Michael Edwards.
2. Andy Robertson (Bought for £10m)
Bought for an initial £8m from Hull City, at a time when the Tigers were spending a similar fee to bring in fringe player Kevin Stewart from Liverpool, Robertson is without a doubt Edwards’ best bargain buy.
Another player who took time to settle in the Reds’ team, but when he got up to speed he wasted no time in establishing himself as one of the very best left-backs in the world.
Boasting assists for fun and a virtual ever-present, it’s only a slight drop-off in form in recent weeks that has seen his place in the side questioned for the first time in four years.
Premier League, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and European Super Cup winner, the Scot must be one of the deals that Edwards is most proud of.
1. Philippe Coutinho (Sold for £142m)
Coutinho was desperate to leave for Barcelona in the summer of 2017 but Liverpool held firm before belatedly cashing in the following January.
The Brazilian had handed in a transfer request and made himself unavailable for selection because of a suspect injury while the transfer window was open, as the Reds rejected countless bids for his services.
In the end, they accepted a club-record £142m for the playmaker, with such funds immediately being re-invested in Van Dijk, with Alisson to follow, as Coutinho’s exit opened the door for the Liverpool transformation under Klopp as they also changed formation and playing style.
Including a clause which meant Barcelona would have to pay a hefty premium fee on top of any transfer fee if they came knocking at the Reds door again for the likes of Salah or Van Dijk in the following two years was the cherry on the cake.
And the fact that Liverpool have flourished as Coutinho’s career has floundered, with his time at Camp Nou being an unmitigated failure and a key part in their financial collapse, with the Catalans currently £1bn in debt, Edwards ensured the Reds were the only winners from this deal.
