Liverpool take reported £18m hit in ultra-rare transfer failure

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Liverpool have suffered a very rare transfer failure this summer. The Reds are down £18m on what they’d hoped.

Last week saw Liverpool secure a few major sales. Two of those really stood out – Marko Grujic to FC Porto and Harry Wilson to Fulham.

Grujic left for around £10m – though, there is some confusion around it all. Regardless, the Reds secured a double-digit figure for a player they weren’t using.

And then they did it again. Wilson signed for Fulham at the weekend, bringing in around £12m.

That’s £22m for two players Liverpool had out on loan over the last few years. Nether have ever had a significant role with the Reds and you’ve got to call that a success.

Though, it’s also a bit of a failure. Liverpool appear to have compromised quite a lot on these transfers.

A Liverpool transfer failure?

Liverpool tried to sell both of these players a year ago. They couldn’t find buyers, however, and instead opted to loan them both out and try again down the line.

Per the Liverpool Echo, the Reds wanted £20m each for Grujic and Wilson. When they couldn’t find that, the hope would have been that they’d shine on loan, come back, and justify those prices.

Instead, Liverpool saw both players tread water on loan. Neither boosted their price-tags and instead moved for far less than the Reds wanted.

In fact, the Athletic claims Liverpool rejected a £12m offer for Wilson from Burnley last year. What wasn’t enough then, was enough now.

Rhian Brewster offers another perspective. He joined Sheffield United in 2020 for £23.5m – more than Wilson and Grujic combined. That’s despite having zero top-flight experience.

So we do think this one has to go down as a bit of a flop. Liverpool effectively took an £18m hit on their original plans.