Nathaniel Clyne became our sixth summer signing on Wednesday, with the £12.5m deal for the Southampton full-back taking our total spending past the £40m mark… not bad for the first day of the transfer window!
SEE MORE:
Top Premier League sell on clauses – Crystal Palace set to benefit from Clyne’s Liverpool switch
A look at Liverpool’s last five assistant managers, with Sean O’Driscoll’s imminent appointment
Liverpool transfer news
In the past the Reds have predominately spent big on more attacking players, including another of our most recent additions, £29m-man Roberto Firmino. However, down the years we have occasionally seen the club splash the cash on our back-line and that has proved to be the case again today.
Check out the list below as we count down our ten most costly defensive deals…
10) Daniel Agger – £4.8m (Brondby, 2006)
The powerful Dane was a firm Anfield favourite during his eight years at the club, with his lengthy spell on Merseyside only coming to an end last summer. Unfortunately, his career has been littered with injuries over the years and those problems have arguably restricted him from ever reaching his full potential. He played 232 times.
9) Christian Ziege – £5.5m (Middlesbrough, 2000)
The left-back made the move to Liverpool at the turn of the century. He only stayed at Anfield for a single season, making 32 appearances and scoring two goals in all competitions, before sealing a switch to Tottenham. The 43-year-old has since gone into coaching and management, predominately with the German nation youth team.
8) Jose Enrique – £6.3m (Newcastle United, 2011)
Enrique made a decent impact when he arrived at Anfield four years ago, making 78 appearances in his first two years at the club and becoming an important player in Brendan Rodgers’ early days in charge. Unfortunately, injuries have taken their toll over the last couple of seasons and Alberto Moreno has now taken his place.
7) Martin Skrtel – £6.5m (Zenit Saint Petersburg, 2008)
The Slovakian remains the Reds senior defender and has taken on extra responsibility since the departures of Agger and Jamie Carragher. The 30-year-old, who is approaching 300 games for the club in all competitions, notably scored seven Premier League goals as we finished second in 2014 – he has 17 for us in total.
6) Andrea Dossena – £7m (Udinese, 2008)
The Italian full-back will predominately be remembered as a flop at Anfield – making just 18 Premier League appearances in two years before sealing a move to Napoli. However, Liverpool fans can look back fondly on Dossena’s two most notable moments in a Reds shirt – goals against Manchester United and Real Madrid.
5) Alberto Moreno – £12m (Sevilla, 2014)
The youngster made his move to Liverpool last summer and enjoyed a decent first year on Merseyside. A couple of high-profile mistakes spoilt an otherwise solid debut year, where he was comfortably one of our more impressive additions. The 22-year-old Spaniard will be desperately hoping that he can kick on in the 2015-16 campaign.
4) Nathaniel Clyne – £12.5m (Southampton, 2015)
Our latest summer addition. The former Southampton man has had three solid years on the South Coast, where he helped the Saints fully establish themselves as a Premier League club and secure a place in the Europa League at the end of last season. He won his first cap for England at the end of last year and has since won four more.
3) Glen Johnson – £17.5m (Portsmouth, 2009)
The man Clyne will be replacing at Anfield is this former Portsmouth star, who arguably never fulfilled his huge potential at Anfield. Johnson was considered to be one of the best full-backs in the country when he signed for the Reds six years ago, but in recent years his performances have become renowned for their inconsistency.
2) Mamadou Sakho – £18m (Paris Saint Germain, 2013)
The Frenchman has struggled with injury problems since arriving at Anfield two summers ago. He’s made just 34 Premier League appearances thus far and with the likes of Dejan Lovren queuing up to take his place in the side, you get the sense that the 2015-16 campaign is going to be make or break for his Liverpool career.
1) Dejan Lovren – £20m (Southampton, 2014)
Lovren probably couldn’t have imagined a more difficult start to his Liverpool career. His first couple of months at Anfield were dogged by poor form, as well as a torrent of abuse on social media. However, he came back fighting at the start of this year and his performances over the last six months have been far more encouraging.
