There was a time when Liverpool looked like they were about to enter a new era of dominance. After Arne Slot guided the club to the Premier League title in his first season in charge, winning Liverpool’s 20th top-flight championship, the club followed it up with an unprecedented, record-breaking transfer window in 2025.
Liverpool spent approximately £446 million during that summer window, breaking the Premier League spending record. Their extraordinary recruitment drive included Florian Wirtz for £116.5m, Alexander Isak for £125m, Hugo Ekitiké for £79m, Milos Kerkez for £40m, Jeremie Frimpong for £29.5m, & Giovanni Leoni for around £29m.
On paper, it was extraordinary.
Liverpool had just won the Premier League, then added some of Europe's most exciting young talents and one of the world's best strikers. The expectation was obvious: Liverpool were building a dynasty.
The comparison with Pep Guardiola's Manchester City was inevitable. With Slot already delivering a league title, Liverpool appeared to have the financial power, squad quality and momentum to dominate English football for years.
But what happened next was almost the complete opposite.
Liverpool's Dream Dynasty Quickly Turned Into a Nightmare
Once the 2025-26 season began, Liverpool's performances became increasingly underwhelming.
Despite opening their title defence with five consecutive victories, the team gradually lost its momentum. The football became less convincing, defensive weaknesses became increasingly obvious, and the huge summer investment failed to produce the transformation many expected. Liverpool ultimately finished fifth, 25 points behind champions Arsenal, while failing to win a domestic trophy.
The most concerning aspect was not simply the results.
It was the structure of the team.
Liverpool had spent enormous amounts of money on attacking talent, yet still lacked the defensive midfield authority and defensive stability required to control Premier League matches consistently.
The recruitment imbalance became impossible to ignore.
Eventually, Slot paid the price. Liverpool parted company with him in May 2026, just one year after he had delivered the Premier League title.
Fast-forward to the present, and Andoni Iraola is now Liverpool's head coach.
But the new manager has inherited a squad with significant structural problems.
The £84 Million Decision Liverpool Will Regret
This is where the story becomes particularly painful for Liverpool supporters.
During that record-breaking 2025 summer window, Liverpool were expected to make one final blockbuster addition: Marc Guéhi.
The England international was extremely close to joining Liverpool on deadline day. A £35 million deal had been agreed with Crystal Palace, and Guéhi had even begun undergoing his medical.
But the transfer collapsed at the final stage after Palace were unable to secure a replacement.
At the time, Liverpool could perhaps justify the disappointment.
But the situation became much harder to defend several months later.
By January 2026, Liverpool desperately needed defensive reinforcement. At the same time, their attacking situation was changing rapidly. Mohamed Salah's performances had dropped dramatically compared with his previous standards, and it was increasingly apparent that his Liverpool chapter was approaching its end.
That January window presented Liverpool with two incredibly obvious opportunities.
Marc Guéhi.
And Antoine Semenyo.
Semenyo had been one of the Premier League's most dangerous attackers for Bournemouth and had a release clause that made him attainable. Liverpool had an obvious need for another dynamic winger, while Guéhi represented exactly the type of Premier League-proven centre-back their defence needed.
Instead, Liverpool did nothing.
Manchester City did.
City signed Semenyo from Bournemouth for £62.5 million, with the deal potentially reaching around £65m with bonuses.
Just days later, City signed Guéhi from Crystal Palace for only around £20 million.
Combined, that is roughly £82.5 million, or around £84 million once the relevant add-ons are considered.
And that number could become one of the most painful figures in Liverpool's recent history.
Manchester City Got What Liverpool Needed
The irony is extraordinary. Liverpool had the opportunity to sign both players. They knew Guéhi. They had already come extremely close to signing him.
And with Semenyo available through a release clause, Liverpool had a straightforward route towards strengthening an attack that was beginning to lose one of its biggest stars.
Instead, City stepped forward.
Guéhi was particularly painful because Liverpool appeared willing to wait for the defender to become a free agent rather than spend money to secure him earlier.
City, however, recognised the opportunity.
The two players also fitted City's longer-term rebuilding strategy. Guéhi and Semenyo both signed long contracts and were viewed as players capable of contributing immediately while also helping reshape the squad for the future.
And now, under Enzo Maresca, who succeeded Guardiola as Manchester City's manager in 2026, that investment has carried into another phase of City's evolution.
For Liverpool, meanwhile, the consequences are becoming increasingly obvious.
Liverpool Still Have the Same Problems
Liverpool's current transfer window has not completely addressed the squad's biggest weaknesses.
They have signed Jérémy Jacquet for £60 million and Víctor Muñoz for around £34.5 million, while Ronald Araújo has arrived from Barcelona on a season-long loan with an option to buy.
Araújo is a very good addition. But he is not enough.
Liverpool still require greater quality and depth at centre-back, while the defensive midfield position remains a glaring concern. The departure of Ibrahima Konaté and the ageing of Virgil van Dijk make the situation even more urgent.
Van Dijk remains an elite defender, but Liverpool cannot build their next decade around assuming that the 35-year-old will remain at his peak indefinitely.
That is why the Guéhi decision looks even worse in hindsight.
Liverpool had the opportunity to solve part of this problem before it became an emergency.
They chose not to.
Barcola Shows How Expensive Liverpool's Mistake Has Become
And then comes the ultimate irony.
Liverpool finalized the signing of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain for up to £123 million, including £106 million guaranteed and £17 million in potential add-ons.
Barcola is an exceptional talent. There is little doubt that he can improve Liverpool. But he does not solve their defensive midfield problem. He does not solve the centre-back problem. He does not replace the physical control Liverpool need in midfield.
He solves one major issue: the attacking void created by Salah's departure and the need for another elite winger.
And this is where Liverpool's recruitment strategy becomes difficult to understand.
Transfer inflation has exploded. Liverpool are now prepared to spend up to £123 million on one winger.
Yet months earlier, they allowed Manchester City to acquire two players who could have addressed two separate areas of weakness for roughly £84 million combined.
That is the fundamental issue. It isn't that Liverpool signed Barcola.
It is that they failed to sign Guéhi and Semenyo when both opportunities were sitting directly in front of them.
Could This Mistake Cost Liverpool an Entire Decade?
After Iraola's first two Premier League games, Liverpool already look like a team entering a major rebuild.
They drew 1-1 with Newcastle before drawing 2-2 with Nottingham Forest at Anfield, leaving Iraola still searching for his first Premier League victory. The Forest match again exposed defensive problems, despite Liverpool showing flashes of attacking quality.
This does not mean Iraola cannot fix Liverpool.
He might. But it could take years.
Liverpool now have to rebuild the squad while simultaneously trying to compete with clubs that have already strengthened their own teams.
And Manchester City have Guéhi and Semenyo.
Imagine, for a moment, if those two players were wearing red instead.
Liverpool would have a proven Premier League winger capable of providing pace, physicality and goals. They would also have an England international centre-back entering his prime.
Instead, City have them.
That is why the £84 million transfer mistake could become much bigger than two missed signings.
It could represent the moment Liverpool failed to capitalise on the perfect opportunity to build a post-Salah, post-Van Dijk era properly.
Jurgen Klopp spent nearly a decade rebuilding Liverpool into one of Europe's greatest teams. Slot then won the league in his first season and appeared to have the foundation for another era of dominance.
But poor recruitment decisions can destroy momentum remarkably quickly.
Liverpool can still fix this.
Barcola could become a superstar. Jacquet could become an elite defender. Araújo could prove transformative. Iraola could eventually build another great Liverpool side.
But if Guéhi and Semenyo continue to thrive at Manchester City, Liverpool supporters may look back at that £84 million figure and wonder how different the next decade could have been.
Because sometimes, the transfer that destroys a club's future is not the one it makes.
It is the one it refuses to make.