2004-05 season
Players Bought: Scott Carson (£1m), Fernando Morientes (£6.3m), Mauricio Pellegrino (Free), Antonio Nunez (Swap), Xabi Alonso (£10.5m), Luis Garcia (£6m), Josemi (£2m), Djibril Cisse (£14m)
Players Sold: El Hadji Diouf (£4m), Michael Owen (£8m), Danny Murphy (£2.5m); Released: Vladimir Smicer, Stephane Henchoz, Chris Butler, Markus Babbel
Performance: Rafael Benitez did a lot of good here. He brought in two Anfield favourites in Alonso and Garcia who were both crucial to our Champions League success. Morientes and Cisse did not produce as he might have hoped but the idea was right – we needed to rejuvenate our strikeforce. Diouf was got rid of as well, while Owen was sold.
Rating: 7/10
2005-06 season
Players Bought: Craig Bellamy (£6m), Robbie Fowler (Free), Daniel Agger (£5.8m), Jose Reina (£6m), Jan Kromkamp (Swap), Peter Crouch (£7m), Mohamed Sissoko (£5.6m), Antonio Barragan (£240k), Bolo Zenden (Free), Mark Gonzalez (£4.5m)
Players Sold: Fernando Morientes (£3m), Milan Baros (£6.5m); Released: Zak Whitbread, Conal Platt, John Welsh, Josemi, Mark Smyth, Paul Harrison, Antonion Nunez, Gregory Vignal, Jon Otsemobor, Mauricio Pellegrino
Performance: Once again, Rafa did a lot of good business here. Agger and Reina were important players for us, while you can make a case for Bellamy, Crouch, Sissoko and Zenden all justifying their price-tags. Bringing back Robbie Fowler for his final Anfield farewell was a masterstroke and we made a profit on the sale of Baros.
Rating: 8/10
