Liverpool are one of the most successful clubs in English, British and indeed world football. They have won countless pieces of silverware over the years, and while they have produced some magnificent players through their academy, much of their success has been down to their work in the transfer market.
They have not been associated, at least until the summer of 2025/26, with lavish spending in the same way as Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea. Even so, over the years, they have certainly been among the richest and biggest-spending clubs. As such, it is no surprise that they have broken the British transfer record.
However, what may surprise some is that they have not done so all that many times. In this article, we take a look at exactly how many and profile the players who were involved. We will also consider some other transfer-related records the Reds have been involved in.
Twice in One Window or Twice in Their History?
There is always a lot of noise, confusion, hearsay and rumour when it comes to big transfers. Of course, that is the case more than ever in an era where a good meme-worthy point, clickbait article or attention-grabbing story is more important than the facts.
Liverpool’s huge splurge in the transfer market of summer 2025 certainly attracted a lot of attention, column inches and fan chatter. Many suggested that they broke the British transfer record twice: first with the signing of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, and then again when they finally landed Alexander Isak, despite Newcastle’s wishes.
The fee often reported for Wirtz was £116m, which would have been a British record. That sum would have eclipsed the amounts paid for Jack Grealish, Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez. There is sometimes confusion around transfers when it comes to add-ons. Some very easily triggered ones are more likely to be included in the fee, but really, only the initial fee should be considered.
That said, debate can arise about whether the full figure becomes valid once the add-ons have been paid. Moreover, it is often the case that clubs do not officially disclose what the real fee was, and it is not unheard of for the buying and selling teams to publicly disagree about what the transfer involved amounted to.
With all that said, it is now widely accepted that the fee for Wirtz was an initial £100m with up to £16m to possibly be paid further down the line. As such, his signing did not eclipse the £106.8m Chelsea paid for Fernandez from Benfica. Nor did it surpass the £115m the Blues splashed out on Moises Caicedo, even if that sum is probably more accurately described as £100m with £15m of easily met add-ons.
So this summer, it was just Isak who set a new mark for Liverpool and the British transfer record. And surprisingly, the Reds have only broken the record once before, that coming in the summer of 1995 when they paid a rather less juicy £8.5m for Stan Collymore, signing the striker from Nottingham Forest.
Stan Collymore, £8.5m, Forest to Liverpool, 3rd of July 1995
Collymore initially played alongside Ian Rush for Roy Evans’ Liverpool. However, Rush, who was well into his 30s, was soon replaced by the club’s rising star and local icon, Robbie Fowler. Fowler and Collymore worked well together, and 19 goals from 44 appearances in his first season on Merseyside was a good return for the latter.
Collymore netted 16 times in 37 outings a year later but was then sold to Aston Villa. He started less regularly in what turned out to be his final campaign with Liverpool, and with reports of a rift between him and manager Roy Evans, the club decided to sell the pacy attacker.
They got most of their money back, with Villa spending a club record £7m on the striker, who won just three England caps. His career with Liverpool, and in general, was one of promise but ultimately disappointment. He never really settled at a club, and in the end, he retired having scored just 110 senior league goals (from 287 league appearances).
The next British transfer record came a year later and was not far shy of double the Collymore fee. Newcastle paid a massive £15m to Blackburn for Alan Shearer. The record before Collymore was set during the same window, with Arsenal buying Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan for £7.5m. We can safely say that Bergkamp and Shearer provided more value than the striker they sandwiched.
Alexander Isak, £125m, Newcastle to Liverpool, 1st of September 2025
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Isak’s move from the Magpies to Anfield was the transfer saga of the summer window. A full 30 years after they paid the relatively modest sum of £8.5m for Collymore, they spent almost 15 times that much on another striker. The deal is believed to be £125m up front, though some reports suggest there may be the possibility of it rising to £130m.
Either way, it was, by some distance, a new British transfer record. To give an idea of how much richer football has become in the 30 years between Liverpool breaking the record, £8.5m in 1995 would give you around £23m in “buying power” today. Conversely, £125m today is the equivalent of £46.5m in 1995.
Whatever the money, Liverpool have signed a striker who has a little bit of everything. Isak is tall, fast and strong. He is good in the air, can beat a man, holds the ball up well and is an exceptional finisher. He scored a goal every three games with Real Sociedad, netting 44 times from 132 appearances over three and a bit seasons.
For Newcastle, he bagged 62 in just 109 outings, including 23 from 34 PL games the season before Liverpool signed him. It was a protracted, messy transfer for a player who was almost 26, but Arne Slot will hope Isak’s goals can fire his side to great glories in the years ahead.
Two British Records But No Strangers to Record Deals
Juventus, Blackburn and Marseille have broken the British transfer record as many times as Liverpool, while Derby have done so more often. But it would be wrong to suggest the Reds have not been big spenders. Ignoring the many expensive signings they made in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent times they have broken various records.
In January 2018, Liverpool made Virgil van Dijk the most expensive defender in the world at £75m. What a bargain that was! In July that same year, they paid around £67m for Alisson, again a record sum at the time for his position. And again, a massive bargain. More recently, Wirtz was not a record British deal, but he has become the most expensive German player of all time. Moreover, in the 2025 summer window, Liverpool spent a record total of £446m – more than any Premier League club in a single window. That included each of the three most expensive additions, with the £79m they paid for Hugo Ekitike still more than any other club spent on a single player.