Can Liverpool defend their PL title ahead of Arsenal & City after the transfer window?

Liverpool left their most-awaited signing of Alexander Isak for the last minutes of the deadline day. The forward completed his move to Anfield, much to the delight of the Liverpool supporters.

Arne Slot enjoyed a triumphant debut season in England, where he won the Premier League. The manager is now determined to defend the league title and has left no stone unturned in the transfer market. The Merseyside club have been extremely busy in the summer and have flexed its muscle handsomely in the transfer market.

Liverpool could have also added Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace to their roster on the final day of the window; however, the deal collapsed due to Crystal Palace’s last-minute transfer U-turn. Arne Slot would have loved the luxury of having another defender in his squad after his side shipped in 4 goals during its initial two Premier League fixtures but kept a clean sheet vs Arsenal in their 3rd game winning 1-0.

It is looking more and more like a 2 horse race for the PL title given Chelsea not having a genuine title winning team and Man City equally looking vulnerable in their first 3 games although that might change with the arrival of star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from PSG.

A look at the Liverpool transfer window arrivals at Anfield

Liverpool spent a staggering £449 million in this summer window, which marked the arrival of 10 players. Alexander Isak, for £125 million, and Florian Wirtz, for £116 million, were among the costliest arrivals this transfer period. Liverpool’s pursuit of the Isak deal with Newcastle United reaped its fruits on deadline day.

Hugo Ekitike joined Liverpool from Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt. The Frenchman would be a great addition to the attacking firepower at Liverpool after the club allowed Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz to leave the club. Despite failing at the Marc Guehi transfer, Slot was successful in adding Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez to bolster his team’s defensive capabilities.

Read about the most expensive transfer signings

Player	Team	Fee
Alexander Isak	Newcastle	£125m
Florian Wirtz	Bayer Leverkusen	£116m
Hugo Ekitike	Eintracht Frankfurt	£69m
Milos Kerkez	Bournemouth	£45m
Jeremie Frimpong	Bayer Leverkusen	£35m
Giovanni Leoni	Parma	£26m
Armin Pecsi	Puskas Akademia	£1.5m
Will Wright	Salford	undisclosed
Freddie Woodman	–	free
		Total Fees = £417.5

A look at the Liverpool transfer window departures from Anfield

The Reds went about their transfer business with a proper plan in structure. The club was able to splash the big bucks after deciding to sell as many as 17 players this summer. Liverpool generated a massive total of £262 million from all player sales this window.

Trent Alexander-Arnold is among the biggest players who left the Liverpool squad from last season. The full-back joined Real Madrid ahead of the Club World Cup that took place in the United States of America. The sale of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz, along with other academy graduates, helped the Reds recoup a large chunk of the money they spent on recruitment.

Player	Team	Fee
Luis Diaz	Bayern Munich	£65.5m
Darwin Nunez	Al-Hilal	£46.2m
Jarell Quansah	Bayer Leverkusen	£35m
Ben Doak	Bournemouth	£25m
Caoimhin Kelleher	Brentford	£18m
Trent Alexander-Arnold	Real Madrid	£8.5m
Tyler Morton	Lyon	undisclosed
Nat Phillips	West Bromwich Albion	Undisclosed
Harvey Elliot	Aston Villa	Loan
Kostas Tsimikas	Roma	Loan
Vitezslav Jaros	Ajax	loan
Harvey Davies	Crawley	Loan
James McConnell	Ajax	Loan
Owen Beck	Derby	Loan
Luca Stephenson	Luca Stephenson	Loan
Lewis Koumas	Birmingham	Loan
James Balagizi	Forest Green Rovers	Loan
		Total Fees = £198.2

With the transfer window now over, Arne Slot can now channel all his energy on the newly announced UEFA Champions League group. After registering a 1-0 victory over Arsenal, the Reds will now resume Premier League action against Burnley on September 14th.

Given the extraordinary summer transfer window from Liverpool it certainly seems likely they will be able to defend the PL title successfully despite Arsenal having a very good transfer window too.

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