Liverpool may not have signed anybody in the summer transfer window, yet, but the business it has done regarding outgoings has been mightily impressive. The Reds have sold Sepp van den Berg to Brentford for a fee that could rise to $39 million, while Fabio Carvalho has already been sold to the same club for a fee that could rise to $36 million.
For Liverpool to receive the full fees for both players, $6 million worth of add-on clauses must be met by both Van den Berg and Carvalho, but even if they are not, Liverpool is guaranteed to recoup $62.1 million on two players they collectively bought for less than $13 million.
Van den Berg was signed for an initial $1.7 million from PEC Zwolle in 2019 and that fee could have risen to $5.2 million if various add-on clauses were met, but the Dutchman only ended up making four appearances for the Reds' senior team, the latest of which came in 2020. Carvalho, meanwhile, was signed for $6.5 million, with a further £3.5 million in add-ons. Given the Portuguese played just 21 times for Liverpool, those clauses would have had to have been very basic for the Reds to have actually ended up paying the extra money.
The sales underline the importance to Liverpool of Michael Edwards, the Reds' former sporting director who returned to the scene earlier this year as FSG's CEO of football. Edwards earned a reputation as one of the best sporting directors in football with his transfer dealings for Liverpool between 2016 and 2022 - a period that saw Liverpool win every major domestic trophy available to them, as well as the Champions League .
While Edwards does not work exclusively for Liverpool in his new role, he has played a major role in restructuring the Anfield operation following Jurgen Klopp's departure. New sporting director Richard Hughes was hired by Edwards, and the pair can both take credit for the amount of money Liverpool has generated from the sales of two players who were very much dispensable.
The decision-makers at Old Trafford must be glancing down the M62 with envy given their shoddy track record for shifting unwanted players. Facundo Pellistri is the latest example of a player United has sold for a relative pittance, with Panathinaikos paying just $6.5 million for the Uruguayan winger. United also recently took a $45.8 million hit on right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka - signed for $65.4 million and sold for just $19.6 million - half the amount Liverpool could end up receiving for Van den Berg.
Those four deals just sum up the difference in class of the two clubs when it comes to transfer dealings: Liverpool continue to thrive, while United continue to toil.
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