Fans will expect team to deliver after €520m splurge

FROM famine to feast. But the addi tive dopamine hit of signing players meant there were some Liverpool supporters left disappointed when the proposed arrival of Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace collapsed shortly after Monday's deadline.

- BY IAN DOYLE

Regardless, this has been an unprecedented transfer window not just for the Reds but the Premier League as a whole, Arne Slot’s Premier League champions having committed to splashing out €520million on new talent.

It makes the spending splurge headed by sporting director Richard Hughes the highest tally in a single window in English football history, surpassing the previous record amount of €500m set by Chelsea two years ago.

The shimmering centrepiece, of course, is Alexander Isak, Liverpool's patience in waiting for the Sweden international rewarded with Newcastle United finally showing a modicum of common sense and cashing in on their wantaway prized asset for a British record €145m fee.

Having romped to the Premier League title last season, it is the ultimate in recruiting from a posi tion of strength, an approach that served Liverpool so well during their glory days of the 1970s and 1980s.

And while at first glance very much against the trend long set by fiscally-aware owners Fenway Sports Group, the devil is, as ever, in the detail.

Liverpool could recoup up to €260m from player sales this summer, with €230m of that guaranteed. And in terms of net spend for the window, it puts them behind expected title rivals Arsenal, again high lighting the Reds as chief exponents of the underrated and often overlooked ability of selling players at good prices.

But there's no doubt the huge outlay and squad reshuffle has further ramped up the pressure on Slot to deliver, even allowing for his remarkable debut campaign in charge.

Winning the title with ostensibly another manager's players is one thing — constructing your own team in your own image and going again is quite another.