Liverpool Transfer News: Reds Urged to Spend £200m by Alan Hansen

Liverpool legend Alan Hansen has encouraged the club to spend a staggering £200 million in the summer to enable them to compete at the top level again.

The Reds are currently languishing down in eighth in the Premier League table after another disappointing season. Jurgen Klopp’s appointment as manager has helped bring some positivity back to Anfield, but Hansen feels as though a significant outlay in the summer is vital if they’re to challenge for titles, per George Cooper of the Independent:

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From what I understand Fenway Sports Group have told the manager it is not a bottomless pit. So the problem he might have is that the owners have invested so much already, will they be reluctant to do it again? They have spent a lot - £20 million on Lazar Markovic, and then he was sent out on loan.

You could say they need to spend £100 million, but where does that get you in today’s market? If they are going to have a real go it needs to be more like £200 million – but you can’t just snap your fingers and solve the problem.

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It would be an especially staggering amount to spend on players in the space of one window, the most ever by a team, in fact. Indeed, according to the Daily Telegraph, Real Madrid’s purchases in the summer of 2009, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, amounted to a whopping £195 million and has yet to be topped.

For that kind of money Liverpool could potentially rebuild an entire squad and attract some of the top players in the world. But it doesn’t seem as though spending masses of money is an approach Klopp is looking to take during his time at the club.

Already he’s facilitated two transfers you’d consider to be bargains in Marko Grujic and Joel Matip, who will both join up with the squad in the summer. According to Bleacher Report’s Dean Jones, the Reds are targeting another cut-price purchase too, with Ignacio Camacho of Malaga eyed:

Liverpool have thrown money around in the transfer window the last two summers running and have made little progression. After losing Raheem Sterling and Luis Suarez before him, the Reds have recouped plenty of money, but instead of targeting replacements for those players, former manager Brendan Rodgers chose to sign numerous squad fillers instead.

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As noted by Liverpool sports historian Gary Shaw, Rodgers’ tenure proved that spending big early on isn’t necessarily a good idea:

When so many players come in in such quick succession, the squad dynamic can be disrupted, and that’s exactly what seems to have happened at Liverpool in recent summers. For another massive overhaul to take place again at the end of this season would do little to help the club, even though Klopp will have his own ideas to implement.

The Reds will surely spend big, but a £100 million spree, never mind a £200 million one, is unlikely. Expect Klopp to isolate four or five key positions in the squad that need to be improved with genuine quality and for the club to back him in pursuit of targets. If Liverpool can do that and keep their best players, it’ll be an overdue step in the right direction on the transfer front.