Liverpool's £450million spending in the 2025/26 transfer window has been slammed by Jamie Carragher, who branded it "arguably the worst transfer window we've probably seen in Premier League history, when you consider the fees for these players, and what it's going to do for Liverpool."
The Reds broke the British transfer record twice in as many weeks with Alexander Isak (£125m) and Florian Wirtz (£116m), as well as signing Hugo Ekitike for £75m, just weeks after winning the league at a canter. But it all fell apart as Liverpool just about secured Champions League football on the final day ahead of Bournemouth, and Arne Slot was given the chop as the Reds ended the campaign 25 points behind champions Arsenal.
Manchester United's £200m splurge
Manchester United's window in the summer of 2023 saw Erik ten Hag splurge over £200m - £72m of that on Rasmus Hojlund, £47.2m on Andre Onana and £55m on Mason Mount – who took two years to play 90 minutes due to persistent injuries. United won the FA Cup, but no thanks to any of the signings, and Ten Hag was sacked months later after the Wembley triumph provided him a stay of execution.
Other notable disasters
Liverpool's 02/03 window saw Gerard Houllier shop exclusively in France, signing El-Hadji Diouf, Salif Diao, Bruno Cheyrou and Anthony Le Tallec, while snubbing the chance to sign Nicolas Anelka permanently – a key reason in the club failing to qualify for the Champions League that year. Tottenham sold Gareth Bale for a world record £86million and spent more than £100m on flops Paulinho, Nacer Chadli, Roberto Soldado, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches and Erik Lamela – with only Christian Eriksen of the sarcastically labelled 'magnificent seven' proving a good signing.
Manchester United's 08/09 window saw the Premier League champions sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80million and let Carlos Tevez head to Manchester City, while signing Michael Owen, Gabriel Obertan, Mame Biram Diouf and Antonio Valencia as replacements. Manchester City added flops Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair, Maicon, Matija Nastasic and Javi Garcia in 12/13, losing the title to United by 11 points. Everton shelled out more than £180m in 17/18 for Davy Klaassen, Sandro, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Nikola Vlasic, Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun, who all failed and were shipped out at huge deficits, while Michael Keane and Jordan Pickford still remain at the club.
More windows that went wrong
Arsenal's 11/12 window saw Arsene Wenger sign Mikel Arteta, Gervinho and Andre Santos as replacements for Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy, before Arsenal were beaten 8-2 by Manchester United at Old Trafford. Newcastle's 12/13 window saw Vurnon Anita and Gael Bigirimana as the pick of summer signings, with the Toon falling to a 16th place finish and relegation three years later. Chelsea added Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater, Antonio Rudiger, Davide Zappacosta and Alvaro Morata for a combined £185m in 17/18, finishing 5th with three of the signings later leaving as free agents.
West Ham's 16/17 window saw 16 players signed, including Andre Ayew for £20m and Robert Snodgrass for £10.2m, as the club failed to qualify for the Europa League group stages, with Dimitri Payet forcing a move back to Marseille in January as the Irons finished 11th. Liverpool's 10/11 window saw Jonjo Shelvey, Milan Jovanovic, Danny Wilson, Joe Cole, Christian Poulsen, Brad Jones, Raul Meireles and Paul Konchesky signed, with Andy Carroll arriving in the winter for £35m – the only saving grace being Luis Suarez, but the Reds wouldn't return to the Champions League for another three years.
Manchester United's 13/14 window saw David Moyes and Ed Woodward make only one summer signing – Marouane Fellaini for £27.5m on deadline day, just weeks after his £23.5m buyout clause had expired. United finished 7th and Moyes got the chop.
