Fresh off a 10-point title, Liverpool ditched its usual slow-and-steady approach and blew the doors off the transfer window. They broke their own record twice in one summer, bringing in Florian Wirtz for £116 million and Alexander Isak for £125 million — now the most expensive signing in British football. Add Hugo Ekitike and a handful of others, and Liverpool’s total spending soared to roughly £449 million including add-ons.

But massive spending doesn’t guarantee instant results. And rebuilding a champion is a lot messier than it looks on deadline day.

This episode dives into why Liverpool went so big, how they kept their net spend surprisingly low through player trading, and why such a dramatic overhaul is so out of character for the club. We look at how long it actually takes a squad full of expensive new arrivals to gel — and whether this rebuild might already be showing cracks.

From there, the conversation widens to the shifting economics of the Premier League in the new PSR era: fewer Galáctico-style deals, more investment in depth, and a transfer market now shaped in part by Saudi Arabia’s willingness to take high-wage fringe players off clubs’ books. All of it sits on top of a media-rights model that still assumes money will keep rising forever — even as signs of stagnation appear.

We also explore the tension between free-spending leagues and parity-focused systems like MLS and the NWSL. Is unpredictability actually better for long-term value? And what does it mean when global stars — from Messi to rising young talent — cross into the American game?

Finally, there’s the view across the Atlantic: how MLS is perceived in England, what aligning the league calendar with Europe could unlock, and why the 2026 World Cup feels both massively promising and strangely overshadowed by politics and uncertainty.

From Liverpool’s record-breaking gamble to the future of transfers, parity, MLS, and the World Cup, this episode breaks down how money, risk, and entertainment are reshaping football on both sides of the ocean.

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For more, follow Asli and Michael on Instagram

Asli – @brefootcontessa

Michael – @michale.lore

And follow the show…

On Instagram – @financeoffootballpod

On Facebook – /financeoffootball

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The Finance of Football, a Frequency Machine Podcast, is…

Written, Hosted, and Produced by Asli Pelit and Michael LoRé

Editing and Sound Design by Ryan Hammond

Mixing and Mastering by Julian Kwasneski

Executive Produced by Stacey Book and Avi Glijansky

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Check out more of Frequency Machine’s podcasts – including Undercover Sports, a show about the wildest sports conspiracy theories, at frequencymachine.com

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