Jamie Carragher has warned that Liverpool's £445million summer spending spree in 2025 risks being remembered as the worst transfer window in Premier League history unless the club's new signings start performing.
The Reds broke the Premier League transfer record twice last summer, paying £116million for Florian Wirtz before smashing that figure again to sign Alexander Isak for £125million. Liverpool also spent £79million on Hugo Ekitike, £40million on Milos Kerkez, £29.5million on Jeremie Frimpong, £29million on Giorgi Mamardashvili and £26million on Giovanni Leoni.
Despite the outlay, Liverpool finished a disappointing fifth in the Premier League last season, 25 points behind champions Arsenal. Manager Arne Slot was sacked at the end of the campaign, with Andoni Iraola brought in as his replacement this summer.
Carragher believes that, with the exception of Ekitike, all of last summer's signings need to significantly improve this season.
Carragher's warning on Sky Sports
"My fear of watching Liverpool yesterday, and it's the first game of the season, is this window of 12 months ago could set Liverpool back a year or two to fix it," Carragher said on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football.
He said that last season's underperformance had not been pinned on the players, noting that fellow pundit Gary Neville had said on his podcast that the players had "got off lightly" because criticism instead focused on Slot's style of play. Carragher said Slot was "not like Jurgen Klopp" and had been "holding these players back."
Carragher added that although it was only one game under Iraola, the club was looking at 12 months of underperformance from all of the signings apart from Ekitike. He said that if things did not change in the next two or three months under Iraola, the window could end up being viewed as arguably the worst in Premier League history given the fees involved and what the players were expected to deliver.
Carragher said the signings were not just meant to be good individual players but were supposed to help build "a little dynasty" for Liverpool, in the way Manchester City and Manchester United have won multiple leagues within five-year spells, noting that Liverpool had been champions two seasons ago.
Neville targets Wirtz and Isak
Carragher's comments came a day after Neville, who responded with "wow" to his colleague's assessment, singled out Wirtz and Isak for criticism following Liverpool's 2-2 draw at Newcastle United. Wirtz was substituted after 63 minutes, while Isak struggled on his first appearance back at St James' Park since his acrimonious departure from Newcastle last year.
Neville said the pair were "too nice" and needed a nastier edge to their game.
"The big thing for Liverpool is they've got a quarter-of-a-billion-pound front-two, Isak and Wirtz, and bloody hell we've been kind to them," Neville said on his Gary Neville Podcast. "They are going to have to start playing soon or else to be fair they're going to get a lot of criticism. They're going to have to start delivering. For a start they're too nice and if you're going to be nice, you better be incredible at football."
He added that he did not see tenacity in Wirtz in particular, describing him as "a nice player moving around the pitch, not really ever looking like he's busting a gut to do anything," while suggesting Isak showed a little more.
Neville wants a 'rocket' up Wirtz
Neville said he wanted to put a "rocket" up Wirtz because of his languid style, comparing him unfavourably to more graceful players such as Mesut Ozil and Kai Havertz.
"There's ability and talent there and an understanding of his position," Neville said. "Sometimes I think he moves too much and isn't close enough to his striker. Sometimes I don't think he understands where the game is going to be won and lost. I don't see him combining with Isak."
Neville said Wirtz needed to spend less time in the build-up and think of himself as a second striker rather than a third midfielder, focusing on feeding Isak with passes down the side of opposition centre-backs. He said he had faith in both players, calling Isak "an exceptional player" and recalling that no one had given Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, or Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, a tougher time than Isak had while at Newcastle.
"Liverpool's team-mates and coaches need to see that because it's £125m, and Wirtz needs to sort himself out. Enough is enough now," Neville said. "He's young and come into a different country and I can see a real player there, but we can't keep watching this stuff. He's been subbed after an hour and they need a goal. That's not right. The biggest disappointment for me is those two."
Wirtz and Isak will have the chance to respond when Liverpool host Nottingham Forest in a 12:30pm kick-off on Saturday.
