Arne Slot admits Liverpool are Premier League title favourites – but takes aim over £300m spending

Liverpool kick off the new season by facing FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in the Community Shield at Wembley with the pressure on the Premier League champions to defend their title

Arne Slot accepts Liverpool are favourites for the Premier League title – but insists it shouldn’t be about the money they’ve spent.

The Reds have splashed the cash this summer with their spending nearly reaching £300m and more to come. But the defending champions have raised almost £150m so far in player sales with further departures in the coming days and weeks before the window slams shut.

The Liverpool boss said: “If you won it last season it’s quite normal that you are part of the favourites again for next season. For me it would not be normal if it’s about spending, because the net spend of us compared to the other teams is not in our favour, if you look at the last two seasons. But it’s completely normal that we are one of the favourites, because we won it last season. And we brought in good players, like all the other ones did, by the way.”

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Liverpool only spent £10m last summer on Federico Chiesa while they earned more in outgoings. They’re set to smash the British transfer record with a £116m deal for Florian Wirtz while Alexander Isak would cost £120m at least to get from Newcastle this summer.

Arsenal have spent close to £200m this summer and brought in just £9m while Manchester United’s move for Benjamin Sesko will take their spending to the £200m mark with no money yet from outgoings. Manchester City have spent £151m in the summer but also splashed out in January and have made £42m this window. While Chelsea have also spent over £200m but raised over £100m as well.

Slot added: “This is the Premier League, this is what makes this league so nice. I think there’s only been one exception [who didn’t spend big] in the last two, three, four, five, six years, and that’s been Liverpool last season.

“Sunderland is spending money as if they… They have a lot of money, of course, because they’re promoted. So that is what happens in the Premier League, that’s why it is such a nice league.

“So if we are only favourites because we’ve spent a bit, I would see that as weird, because we’ve lost a lot as well. But that we are favourites because we won it last season and we played so well, that’s clear. And the ambitions haven’t changed, because the ambition of this club is always to compete for every trophy.

“So that hasn’t changed compared to last season. Not because we lost players and not because we brought players in. The ambitions are always the same at this club.”

Slot remained tight-lipped on the pursuit of Isak and the potential of an attacker coming in but they are ready to spend big if the Newcastle striker is available while a defender is also on the cards.

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