Man Utd example Liverpool must now avoid after breaking British transfer record TWICE

Liverpool have spent more than £400million this summer, breaking the Premier League transfer record twice, but there is never a guarantee that big spending brings on-field success

Liverpool have left a target on their backs after breaking the British transfer window twice in the space of a few weeks. That’s no guarantee of success, though – as Manchester United found out back in the 2001-02 season.

Premier League champions Liverpool looked to cement their place at the top by clinching a record-breaking move for Florian Wirtz in July, paying up to £116million for the German international. That record didn’t last long, though, with Alexander Isak finally getting his Anfield move in a £125m deadline day deal.

Back in 2001, United were also reigning champions. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had finished 10 points clear of closest challengers Arsenal, but eight league defeats and a Champions League quarter-final elimination left the Scottish manager determined to strengthen.

First came Ruud van Nistelrooy, who had been due to join United earlier only for injury to get in the way. The £19m paid by the Red Devils broke the £18m record set by Leeds the previous year when they signed Rio Ferdinand from West Ham.

Van Nistelrooy only held the record for 11 days, though. That’s when United threw £28.1m at Lazio for Juan Sebastian Veron – the player who was meant to solve their European problems as they looked to add to their 1999 Champions League final victory.

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To say the two signings had mixed fortunes would be fair. Van Nistelrooy ended the season as United’s top scorer and would end up with 150 goals in all competitions across five seasons at Old Trafford, but had just one league title and a pair of domestic cup wins to show for it.

Veron, meanwhile, was never able to repeat his Serie A form in the Premier League. His two-year spell wasn’t as bad as some have made it out to be, but United nonetheless cut their losses with a £15m sale to Chelsea in 2003.

United themselves set a precedent Liverpool won’t want to repeat. Ferguson’s team only finished three points worse off than in their 2000-01 title-winning campaign, but that saw them drop from first to third as Arsenal won the title and Liverpool leapfrogged United into second after winning their last two games.

They responded to that setback by, you guessed it, breaking the record again. The summer 2022 move for Rio Ferdinand was un unquestionable success, though, with the centre-back winning six Premier Leagues and one Champions League during more than a decade at Old Trafford.

Liverpool have made a fast start in their own title defence, though there have been a few questions asked of Arne Slot’s side despite three wins from three in the league. Wirtz hasn’t shown himself to be a Premier League superstar overnight, but perhaps he’ll benefit from that record price tag no longer hanging over his head after six long weeks.

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