The 5 most expensive departures to Liverpool of all time

As we approach the end of the season, the focus shifts to the summer transfer window, the busiest time of year for transfer news. Throughout the Premier League era, Liverpool have been on both sides of the expensive transfer coin, buying players for large sums of money, but also selling players for large sums of money. Who were the most expensive Anfield departures in Liverpool history?

The list is based on the base compensation reported at the time of transfer.

Liverpool’s most expensive departure was that of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in January 2018. After Barcelona lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017, they turned to Liverpool to find a replacement for Neymar.

After moving from Brazil to Inter in 2008, Coutinho spent several seasons pushing himself into the Inter team, but never became a regular. Following a recommendation from former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who briefly coached Coutinho at Inter, the Reds signed the Brazilian in the winter of 2013.

Coutinho would go on to play six seasons at Liverpool, including winning the club’s Player of the Season twice and being named to the PFA Team of the Season for the 2014–15 season. Sadly, Coutinho was never able to win a trophy with Liverpool, but ultimately his move at the club helped fund some hugely important revenues.

Virgil van Dijk joined just before Coutinho left, but it was in the same transfer window, meaning the club probably knew they could easily spend £75 million on the Dutch defender. The other big signing partly made possible by Coutinho’s departure was the transfer of Alisson from Roma in the summer of 2018.

As we now know, Coutinho’s transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona was a huge flop for the Catalan giants. The Brazilian forward failed to stay healthy for the club and deliver the world-class results they expected. However, Coutinho eventually won his first Champions League trophy on loan at Bayern Munich in 2020. He is currently on loan at Al-Duhail SC in the Qatar Stars League from Premier League side Aston Villa.

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