'Ridiculous' - Liverpool issued with warning as Arne Slot given 'failure' reality check

Rio Ferdinand has warned Liverpool manager Arne Slot that big spending brings enormous expectations and he'll be deemed a "failure" if he falls short. The Reds didn't rest on their laurels this summer after being crowned Premier League champions, smashing the British transfer record twice to strengthen their squad.

Alexander Isak was a last-minute addition on deadline day, joining Liverpool from Newcastle fora staggering £125million. He followed the much-anticipated signing of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for a cool £116.5m.

Add to that the £79m spent on Hugo Ekitike, £40m on Milos Kerkez, £29.5m on Jeremie Frimpong and £26m on Giovanni Leoni, and Liverpool's summer spending spree totals a staggering £446m.

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That's all without the failed £35m transfer for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, which fell through in the final hours of the window. Despite that setback, Liverpool's off-season expenditure still broke the Premier League record, surpassing Chelsea's previous figure of £434.5m spent in the summer of 2023.

Ferdinand, clearly impressed with Liverpool's transfer activity, has told Slot that winning the title and a cup is the least they should achieve this year. "Liverpool have one of the best transfer windows we've, arguably, seen in the Premier League era," the former England defender said on his show,

"They've gone and got the best striker, or the second best striker after [Erling] Haaland, in the Premier League. They've got the best left-back last year in the Premier League in Kerkez, they've got the best right-back, or one of, in the German Bundesliga in Frimpong. They've got Wirtz, the best German player in the Bundesliga, that is a ridiculous window," he continued.

"The best in positions in their respective leagues have come into their team to improve the champions. If they don't win the league and a cup this season it's a failure, trust me."

Ferdinand concluded: "The amount of money they've spent, over £400m they've spent. Yes, they've recouped some money so I think it's around the £200m their actual net spend but they've done some wonderful business. I think Liverpool have done a magnificent job."

While Liverpool's lavish spending might seem intimidating to their title rivals, the reality is that, due to a series of player departures, Arsenal have actually outspent the Reds this summer. Mikel Arteta's team has spent a net £257m this summer, while Liverpool shelled out £218.4m.

Liverpool have sanctioned departures for Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Caoimhin Kelleher, Ben Doak, Jarell Quansah and Tyler Morton for hefty fees, while Kostas Tsimikas has been loaned out to AS Roma. Harvey Elliott is set to spend this season at Aston Villa before they're obligated to buy him for £35m next summer.

The Reds even managed to secure £10m from Real Madrid for Trent Alexander-Arnold and pocketed £3m for the long-serving Nat Phillips.

Since taking over as Arsenal manager in December 2019, Arteta has spent a staggering £822.75m. In contrast, Liverpool, under two different managers, have only spent £454.2m in that time, winning two Premier League titles, the FIFA Club World Cup, the FA Cup and two League Cups, not to mention making it to the Champions League final in 2022.

Arteta has only managed to win a single FA Cup with the Gunners in 2020 and has now achieved three consecutive second-place finishes in the Premier League.

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