Manchester United and Liverpool are two of the powerhouses in English football both trophy-wise and financially. Playing in the Premier League has given them absolute resources to spend money on players and make a competitive squad.
United are known for spending huge amounts of money, but their inconsistent transfer policy has meant that their huge squad is overpaid and underperforming.
Liverpool have leapfrogged their rivals since Klopp arrived at Anfield, in part thanks to the club's more careful transfer decisions.
Liverpool clinched the Champions League in 2018-19 with a squad that included clever acquisitions like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane and then went on to finally win their first Premier League the following season.
They then suffered with injuries in 2020-21 but came storming back last season, winning the FA Cup and League Cup, as well as making it to the Champions League final and taking the Premier League race to the final day.
This summer, they have strengthened again, bringing in Darwin Nunez from Benfica as their flagship signing. But Klopp has also lost a heavy hitter in Mane.
Meanwhile, United have managed to get some considerable wages off the book in 2022, but they've also spent big money on arrivals, with £63.5million man Casemiro the latest through the door.
United have been criticised for an apparently scattergun approach to the transfer market – for example, they went after Frenkie de Jong and Adrien Rabiot before pursuing Casemiro – but new manager Erik ten Hag recently spoke about how they select transfer targets.
Ten Hag told United's official site: "It starts with the basic stuff. reliable, have drive, have the motivation – highly motivated.
"You want to fight and you bring it every day on the training pitch. You want to strengthen the squad. You are a unified club, a unified team and, most of all, you are prepared to win."
Just how Ten Hag's summer signings – Casemiro, plus Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia – perform over the full season, though, we will have to wait and see.
But what about the difference in transfer spending between United and Liverpool in recent years?
We've had a look at the figures from Transfermarkt and picked out the five biggest purchases and five biggest sales for both clubs since Klopp arrived in October 2015, as well as figured out the net spend for both clubs.
Manchester United and Liverpool: Net Spend since 2015
Liverpool:
Five Biggest Purchases 1. Virgil van Dijk – £76.19milion 2. Darwin Nunez – £67.5million 3. Alisson – £56.25million 4. Naby Keita – £54.00million 5. Luis Diaz – £42.30million
Five Biggest Sales 1. Philippe Coutinho – £121.50million 2. Sadio Mane – £28.80million 3. Christian Benteke – £28.08million 4. Mamadou Sakho – £25.38million 5. Danny Ings – £22.59million
Total Spent: £637.81million Total Sold: £438.84million
Real Madrid is considering Jurgen Klopp as a replacement for Carlo Ancelotti
Real Madrid is reportedly eyeing Jurgen Klopp as a potential replacement for Carlo Ancelotti, sparking gambling about a managerial shake-up at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Jurgen Klopp is currently working as a leader of global soccer for the Red Bull group, Klopp stated that he would not manage another English club and might be he will not be interested with management forever. However, he could choose to coach a national team or take a job.
Image Credit: Liverpool Echo
Either of those options might be presented soon to him. According to TRBFootball, Klopp is reportedly one of the options for Brazil's national team head coach after Dorival Junior's dismissal. However, Carlo Ancelotti is also Brazil's top pick, according to different reports, Brazil's national football management has even begun negotiations with him.
According to the reports, Klopp is one of the candidates Real Madrid is working on to replace their manager if Carlo Ancelotti departs. Los Blancos are looking for a manager who has worked with a mix of young players and superstars and the former Liverpool manager most definitely possesses that.
As Real Madrid is one of the biggest clubs in the world, there would undoubtedly be some appeal if Klopp were to return to club management. Xabi Alonso, a former Real Madrid and Liverpool player is reportedly Los Blancos' preferred candidate.
10 biggest football transfers from Premier League to La Liga
Discover the 10 biggest football transfers from the Premier League to Laliga, featuring players like Eden Hazard, and Phillipe Coutinho and legends like Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Laliga clubs regularly own some of the biggest names in the world of football. Many of their top stars have come from abroad, often moving from the Premier League to La Liga. However, some superstars were not so successful in Laliga after the transfers. Trent Alexander Arnold is more likely to be the next biggest football transfer from the Premier League to Laliga. Discover the 10 biggest football transfers from the Premier League to Laliga, featuring players like Eden Hazard, and Phillipe Coutinho and legends like Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo.
10 biggest football transfers from Premier League to La Liga:
Rank
Player
From
To
Transfer Fee
1
Phillipe Coutinho
Liverpool
FC Barcelona
€142 million
2
Eden Hazard
Chelsea
Real Madrid
€130 million
3
Gareth Bale
Tottenham Hotspurs
Real Madrid
€85 million
4
Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United
Real Madrid
€80 million
5
Julian Alvarez
Manchester City
Atletico Madrid
€82 million
6
Luis Suarez
Liverpool
FC Barcelona
€75 million
7
Diego Costa
Chelsea
Atletico Madrid
€57 million
8
Raphinha
Leeds United
FC Barcelona
€67 million
9
Ferran Torres
Manchester City
FC Barcelona
€46 million
10
Conor Gallagher
Chelsea
Atletico Madrid
€35 million
10. Conor Gallagher | Chelsea to Atletico Madrid | €35 million:
Image Credit: Sky Sports
Conor Gallagher was one of the key players for Chelsea in his final season. He is a Chelsea academy player, despite being an academy graduate of Chelsea, the Blues sold him to the Laliga side Atletico Madrid for €35 million and became one of the players with the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga.
He has seemed a perfect fit for Diego Simeone’s managed side, though he has rotated with other midfielders. Gallagher scored an important Champions League goal against Real Madrid, during a round of 16 match in which Atletico was heartbreakingly beaten on penalties.
9. Ferran Torres | Manchester City to FC Barcelona | €46 million:
Image Credit: Barca Universal
FC Barcelona paid €46 million to Ferran Torres from Manchester City in 2022. But he was never able to prove his worth in FC Barcelona, he was one of the failed yet one the biggest transfers from the Premier League to Laliga.
The winger had never scored more than 10 goals in a single campaign for the La Liga giants. Torres played 145 games at Barcelona and has started almost exactly half (73), which shows the coaches he has played under have been aware that he cannot impact games.
8. Raphinha | Leeds United to FC Barcelona | €50 million:
Image Credit: Republic World
Raphinha was not a major signing for FC Barcelona, yet among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. In the first season, Raphinha scored 14 goals and contributed in 15 goals. However, in the 2024/25 season, Raphinha found his lost form under Hansi Flick as he scored 27 goals and delivered 20 assists. Now the Brazilian winger is one of the players who is getting Ballon d'Or shouts in 2025.
7. Diego Costa | Chelsea to Atletico Madrid | €57 million:
Image Credit: Reddit
Costa played for Atletico Madrid on a few different occasions. He had already left once before coming back in 2010 by the time he moved to Chelsea in 2014, and four years later, he was back, with Atletico Madrid paying €57 million for him.
Diego Costa was one of the players also among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. In his final season before leaving for the Premier League, Costa scored 36 goals, and in three seasons at Stamford Bridge, he scored 59 goals and 21 assists. The Spanish forward 81 games in four seasons after his return but scored just 19 goals in that time.
6. Luis Suarez | Liverpool to FC Barcelona | €75 million:
Image Credit: FC Barcelona
Barcelona had seen enough from Suarez in just two and a half seasons at Liverpool to sign him for an initially reported fee of £75million. That he’d move onto bigger things was unsurprising after notching 31 goals and 13 assists in his final season in the Premier League.
Luis Suarez was one of the key players also among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. The Uruguayan forward scored 195 goals and assisted 113 in 283 games, in his second season at Barca, scoring a remarkable 40 La Liga goals, along with 18 assists. Across all competitions that season, Suarez scored 54 goals and assisted 24.
5. Julian Alvarez | Manchester City to Atletico Madrid | €80 million:
Image Credit: X
One of the most recent players to the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga, Julian Alvarez moved to Manchester City for Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window of the 2024 season. He already has 23 goals and five assists this season, including eight direct goal contributions in the Champions League. So far, the move looks a positive one for Alvarez.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United to Real Madrid | €80 million:
Image Credit: Sporting News
Cristiano Ronaldo was undoubtedly the best move from the Premier League to La Liga in history. He broke new ground with a transfer worth approximately £80million from Manchester United. The previous world-record transfer was Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid, which had stood for eight years.
Ronaldo was one of the most devastating forwards in the world for his entire spell at Real Madrid, scoring 450 goals and assisting 131 in 438 games. Ronaldo is the most successful and among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. He won the Ballon d’Or in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017 while he was a Real Madrid player.
3. Gareth Bale | Tottenham Hotspurs to Real Madrid | €85 million:
Image Credit: Sporting News
At the time of his transfer to Real Madrid for approximately £85million, Bale’s was a world-record move. Gareth Bale was among the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga.
Bale would win five Champions Leagues with Real, as well as three La Liga titles, among many other honors. Throughout seven seasons, he scored 106 goals and assisted 67 times.
2. Eden Hazard | Chelsea to Real Madrid | €130 million:
Image Credit: Sky Sports
Eden Hazard was one of the failed transfers yet and second-placed in the list of the biggest football transfers from the Premier League to La Liga. That he never played 20 La Liga games in a single season, showed how much Hazard struggled, and he retired at just 32 years of age, having played just 10 games in his final season. The Belgian failed to match that single-season total in 76 games across his entire Real Madrid career.
1. Phillipe Coutinho | Liverpool to FC Barcelona | €142 million:
Image Credit: Barca Blaugranes
The biggest football transfer from the Premier League to La Liga, Barcelona spent an astonishing £142million to sign the midfielder from Liverpool. At Liverpool, he had become an iconic figure, having a direct hand in 97 goals in 201 games.
After 13 direct goal contributions in his first 18 La Liga games, Coutinho slowed with only seven contributions in the 32 games he played in the season. The Brazilian left for Aston Villa, after only 39 goal contributions in 106 games at Barcelona.
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Liverpool FC is reportedly on the verge of arranging Darwin Nunez's departure from Anfield this summer if the Saudi Arabian revives its interest in the striker.
The Uruguayan striker had moved to the Reds from Portuguese giants Benfica in a deal worth up to £85 million back in the summer transfer window of 2022.
With a struggling season continuing for him at the Merseyside club, Nunez is believed to be out of new coach Arne Slot's plans and will look to rejuvenate his career in the Gulf.
Nunez may leave Liverpool in the upcoming transfer window
(Image Source | Yahoo)
Nunez's Liverpool career has been affected by difficulties, as he has found it hard to establish himself in the club throughout his early years.
In his three years at the Merseyside club, he has scored 40 goals in 136 games across all competitions, but this season has been the most disappointing so far for the 25-year-old, as he has scored just seven times across all competitions.
With the direction of new head coach Arne Slot, Nunez has found himself out of favor, another contributing factor to speculation about his future.
🗞️ Liverpool are reportedly expecting major transfer offers from clubs in the Saudi Pro League for Darwin Nunez this summer.
Renowned Football Transfer journalist Duncan Castles broke the news on the latest episode of 'The Transfers Podcast' that Liverpool would accept a big Saudi Arabian offer and would be willing to urge Nunez to leave if they come back for him. Castles stated:
Liverpool would be happy if the Saudis came in and would encourage a move for Nunez. They would like to get some kind of significant return on the initial €75 million that they paid Benfica three years ago.
“From the Saudi perspective, [Nunez] still has that ability to be a name within the Saudi game and to deliver goals with his physicality. Interestingly, I’m told that his girlfriend, Lorena Manas, who is the ex-wife of former Barcelona player Aleix Vidal, has been working with agents to explore opportunities elsewhere.
“So it looks like this is both sides pushing against the same door with Nunez, or at least Nunez’s partner, encouraging him to look for a move and Liverpool happy to sell the player with a strong, affluent potential buyer in Saudi Arabia.
Interestingly, it had been hinted that Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr had made a substantial annual deal of €35 million towards Nunez back in January, having already made an offer of £58 million for the forward.
According to reports, Nunez's girlfriend, Lorena Manas, has also been working closely with agents to look into possible transfers in mutual consent, implying a joint pressure for a potential move.
Trent Alexander-Arnold could be set to join Real Madrid with reports suggesting that the Liverpool defender has finally agreed to move. Alexander-Arnold has been Real Madrid's biggest transfer target over the past few years. After Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid, Los Blancos boss Florentino Perez's main target was Trent. However, over the past few years, Trent declined all the Los Blancos offers.
According to @marca, Trent Alexander-Arnold's move to Real Madrid is 99% complete 👀
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 21, 2025
According to reports from Caught Offside, Los Blancos has finally secured the signing of the English Full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold. According to the reports, Trent will join Real Madrid on a free transfer in the summer transfer window. Real Madrid has been working on this scene for over two years, and finally, Trent declined Liverpool's every offer and wants to join Real Madrid.
🚨 BREAKING: Alexander Arnold’s signing is at 90%, practically DONE. He has a foot and a half in Real Madrid. @diarioaspic.twitter.com/8qDKDms2UY
Trent Alexander-Arnold has been linked with a move to Real Madrid this January with Los Blancos keen on restricting a deal despite being able to join as a free agent in the summer. Moreover, Trent wants to stay at Liverpool this season and now he has struck a verbal agreement with Los Blancos' boss Carlo Ancelotti (according to Marca). But it remains unclear whether the agreement means the deal will go through this month.
Liverpool already rejected a bid from Real Madrid in this winter transfer window. Although Liverpool and Real Madrid's management have remained quiet about this deal, it is looking like Trent wants to finish this season as a Liverpool player before waving goodbye to the Reds.
Image Credit: Liverpool FC
Trent is a talented right-back and has been a key player for Liverpool in recent years his quality has caught the eyes of Real Madrid's management. European giants like Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona were also in this transfer saga competing with Real Madrid, but Trent himself chose the Los Blancos. Liverpool's manager Arne Slot tried everything to convince the player to stay, but it seems that the English full-back already made his decision to move to the Spanish capital, where he will join Carlo Ancelotti's managed side.
Bellingham started in Thomas Tuchel's first starting XI as England's boss. It was the 41st appearance of the 21-year-old. The English midfielder overtook Wayne Rooney for the most senior appearance for the England national football team at 21 or younger. The former Manchester United legend made 40 appearances.
41 - Jude Bellingham is making his 41st appearance for England, overtaking Wayne Rooney's record (40) for most games for the senior side while aged 21 or younger. Baton. pic.twitter.com/wBVzvIiFlL
Jude Bellingham made his senior debut for the National side being a 17-year-old in November 2020 on his debut England triumphed with a 3-0 victory over Ireland in a friendly match. He has since made 41 appearances and scored 6 goals and provided 10 assists.
Jude Bellingham continued his good form against Albania on Friday as well. He got the ball in midfield and went past a couple of players before putting a cross for the debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly and the debutant scored the goal and put his side a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute.
Harry Kane scored the second goal in the 77th minute and helped the Three Lions clinch a 2-0 victory over Albania. England is now at the top of the group k of 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. The group also has Latvia, Serbia, and Andorra along with England and Albania.
While England beat Albania 2-0, Jude Bellingham spoke about things the Tuchel's managed side need to improve. Assessing his side's performance Jude said: (Via England Football)
I think we had clear ideas on what we wanted to do and how we wanted to play. We tried that as much as possible. I know it is difficult when you play against a team that sits so low and is so compact.
At times the game takes you a different direction. You want to go on the ball and move around but generally, we stuck to the plan really well. We had a really good week of training, and it was a good way to start the new era.