Liverpool owners FSG explain huge transfer overhaul after Arne Slot speaks out

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has opened up on some the reasons behind Fenway Sports Group sanctioning a record-breaking squad rebuild at Anfield this summer. Arne Slot's side spent £450million in total, while bringing in Alexander Isak for a British-record transfer fee of £125million.

The Reds also splashed cash elsewhere with £116m spent on Florian Wirtz, £29m on Jeremie Frimpong, £79m on Hugo Ekitike, £40m on Milos Kerkez, £26million on Giovanni Leoni, while last summer's agreement to sign Giorgi Mamardashvili for £29m also went through.

Werner was quick to point out that Liverpool recouped more than half of their summer spend, before explaining the reasons why they felt the need to spend big and try to retain the Premier League title.

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"The fact of the matter is it's going to be very difficult," he told . "As much as all the pundits are saying we are going to win the league this year, you can see from our first four matches exactly how competitive the league is. We have been resilient, we have been fortunate.

"The one thing I have learned, and we are relatively humble and modest about this, is we were very enthusiastic about changing the squad because it's very difficult to repeat. There was a great intention to bring in new players, obviously to get better.

"As much as it has been talked about how much our spend was this summer, we have been able to spend to the degree that we did so because we also sold a lot of players.

"One of the most encouraging things about that is we haven't clicked yet and I don't expect us to click right now. I do think part of what we have learned is that you can't just bring the same squad back. You need to bring in a new energy and new ideas."

Liverpool could have increased their summer spending spree further, had the deadline day move for Marc Guehi not broken down with Crystal Palace unable to find a replacement. Werner - reflecting on the transfer pursuits of Isak and Guehi - continued: "In the Newcastle situation, obviously their club needed to find a replacement.

"We thought we had a terrific financial offer for them. But he did have a contract that lasted for three more years.

"I guess our feeling was we had signed Ekitike to be a striker and felt if it works then that would be great, and if it doesn't work there'd be another option somewhere down the road.

"I didn't know any more than the news media. I thought we were going to get the defender from Crystal Palace! But I understood it. They started the season well, and their chairman said; 'we can't afford to lose him'.

"It takes so much to win and it's not due to the talents of any one player. I think Isak will be terrific but he's not the only striker in the world."

When pressed on whether Liverpool would return to the negotiating table for Guehi in January, Werner joked to host Rebecca Lowe: "I'm sorry Rebecca... You went cloudy on me there!"

The Liverpool chairman's defence of the their summer transfer spending spree comes just a few days after Reds' boss, Slot, came out fighting during his pre-match press conference ahead of their clash with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. "There is so much focus on our new signings, especially from pundits that favour some other clubs in the country that cannot stop talking about £450m," Slot said.

"I repeat, £450m, £450m! But they forget about the £300m that we have sold.

"So, yes, if we want to strengthen the squad we need to spend that much money. If we sell Dominik Szoboszlai tomorrow he would be worth £100m, as well. I think it is only a compliment that people tell everybody we have spent so much because that tells you the players we brought in are seen as very good players.

"I think that we did great business; we brought in great players and to add to that, we have already lowered the age of the players. Some other teams prefer to bring in 27-year-olds, because they are ready, but we think we've brought in players who are 21, 22 who are ready.

"And then if they are still with you in four or five years, we can sell [someone like] Luis Diaz for £65m. But it is harder to sell him for £65m if he is already 32. That is our model and I think we should get praise. I think all the money we have spent we generated ourselves by selling and by winning the league after we didn't buy anyone at all [last summer]."

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