Manchester United's £80m Target Shines as Liverpool's Loan Struggles
Manchester United and Liverpool spent last summer throwing big money at problems. Twelve months on, the verdict is in – and it makes for very different reading on either side of the divide.
The Athletic has ranked all 189 Premier League signings from last season. United’s business lands comfortably in the upper tier. Liverpool’s, in one glaring case, hits rock bottom.
United’s new core passes the test
Four major arrivals. Four hits.
Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens all made the top 40, a clean sweep that underlines how effectively United reshaped their squad.
Cunha came in at 40th, Mbeumo at 38th, and Sesko at 29th – all three delivering the kind of first-season impact Old Trafford has too often been denied in recent years. The standout, though, was Lammens. The goalkeeper, ranked ninth overall, produced a debut campaign that instantly justified his elevation and gave United long-overdue stability at the back.
For a club accused of wasting money window after window, this was a rare summer where the recruitment department could point to the table and say: that worked.
And now, United are circling one of the list’s elite.
Mateus Fernandes: relegated, but rising
Eighth place belongs to Mateus Fernandes, the £40m Portugal international who joined West Ham from Southampton and promptly became the heartbeat of a sinking side.
West Ham went down. Fernandes did not.
The Athletic’s assessment was emphatic: tackles, duels, recoveries, long-range goals, incisive passing – he did it all. When Lucas Paqueta left in January, Fernandes stepped into the playmaker role and carried the creative load in a team sliding towards the trapdoor.
He didn’t just survive the pressure. He stood out in it.
That kind of season, in a relegated side, tends to trigger a chain reaction. West Ham, now in the Championship, are expected to cash in. TEAMtalk reports that the club value him at around £80m, a figure that reflects both his impact and their weakened negotiating position.
United are seriously considering a move. The fit is obvious: a high-energy, press-resistant midfielder who idolises Bruno Fernandes and would walk into a dressing room led by his country’s national-team captain. Personal terms are not expected to be a stumbling block. The real question is whether United decide he’s the right cornerstone for their next phase – and how far West Ham are prepared to climb down from that £80m stance.
If they do move, they won’t be alone in the queue. Players this good, this early, don’t stay in the second tier for long.
Liverpool’s record spend, mixed returns
Across the divide, Liverpool’s summer looked bold on paper and brutally uneven in reality.
They broke their transfer record twice: £116m for Florian Wirtz, then £125m for Alexander Isak. The rankings show how harsh the Premier League can be on reputations.
Wirtz squeezed into the top 100 at 97th, a modest return for such a fee. Isak, hampered by an injury-hit campaign, slumped to 172nd out of 189, a reminder that even elite forwards are useless to managers when they’re stuck in the treatment room.
The best of Liverpool’s incoming class? Milos Kerkez at 49th, offering drive and reliability on the left. Hugo Ekitike followed just behind at 50th, while Giorgi Mamardashvili (73rd) and Freddie Woodman (89th) provided depth and competition in goal. Jeremie Frimpong, expected to be a game-changer at wing-back, found himself way down at 119th. Giovanni Leoni, who tore his ACL on debut, understandably landed at 143rd – a cruel twist for a player whose season never really started.
Those numbers paint a picture: plenty of money spent, flashes of value, but too many questions for a club that prides itself on surgical precision in the market.
And then comes the lowest point of all.
Harvey Elliott’s Villa move hits the bottom
Dead last. 189th out of 189.
Harvey Elliott’s loan move from Liverpool to Aston Villa was branded “catastrophic” by The Athletic – for the player and for both clubs.
The numbers behind the verdict are stark. Elliott, 23 and brimming with attacking talent, made just three league starts. Unai Emery simply did not trust him enough to build him into a Villa side that surged without him.
The situation deteriorated off the pitch too. Attempts to cut the loan short in January went nowhere. Efforts in February to remove an obligation-to-buy clause – due to be triggered after 10 appearances – also failed. Elliott reached nine outings in March and then stalled, frozen at the edge of a squad dealing with an injury crisis he could not properly help solve.
For a club with Liverpool’s ambitions and a player with Elliott’s ceiling, the deal was labelled “shambolic”. The appendix in an otherwise healthy body, as the report put it.
Liverpool must now decide how to rebuild his trajectory. Elliott still has time, still has technique and vision, but this season will linger unless the next move is handled with far more care.
Two clubs, one table, very different stories
On one side of this ranking sits United, with four signings in the top 40 and a prime target in Mateus Fernandes sitting eighth, ready-made to step into a higher stage.
On the other, Liverpool, staring at a record double spend that failed to dominate and a loan so misjudged it finished bottom of the entire list.
The market will open again soon. United are weighing up whether to push their chips in on Fernandes and continue a rare streak of smart recruitment. Liverpool must decide if this was an expensive blip or the start of a worrying trend.
The next window will tell which of them has really learned from a season laid bare in 189 names.
