10 best Liverpool signings in Premier League history ranked – Van Dijk 2nd, no Alonso or Torres

Liverpool have fielded some of the greatest players in their history since the Premier League’s formation, and TEAMtalk has ranked the 10 best signings the Reds have made since 1992.

There’s a common theme in the list you’re about to read – most (though not all) of the following players were signed in the Jurgen Klopp era.

There’s room for a handful of players signed while Gerard Houllier, Rafael Benitez, Kenny Dalglish and Brendan Rodgers were at the helm, though there’s a scarcity of players from the 1990s.

In reality, Liverpool were just a bit crap in the 90s, and even Karl-Heinz Riedle’s mum wouldn’t make a case for the shot-shy striker making this list.

What’s more, the vast bulk of Liverpool’s best players in the first 15 or so years of the Premier League were homegrown anyway (Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard), and thus are disqualified from this article.

In any case, there’s only one place to start at No 10 and that’s with one of the greatest captains the club has ever seen.

10) Jordan Henderson

In truth, there’s very little to split he and Georginio Wijnaldum, while Fabinho and to a lesser extent, James Milner, could feel aggrieved at being usurped by Henderson.

Nevertheless, few players encapsulated the Klopp years quite like the tireless Henderson who skippered the side to their first top flight title in three decades in 2020.

Giving Henderson another edge over his midfield brethren is his lengthier tenure having played nearly 500 times for the Reds in his 12-year Anfield career.

At this point, you might be querying whether we’re saying Henderson is a better player than Fernando Torres? Clearly he isn’t/wasn’t, but this list is about impact, transfer fees, influence and legacy, and not just raw talent.

9) Philippe Coutinho

Signed for £8.5m and sold for £142m, which still remains (and will for some time), Liverpool’s most lucrative sale.

Yet only looking at the fees does a huge disservice to the impact Coutinho made on Merseyside.

Between 2015-18, the Brazilian was the player Liverpool hoped £116m man, Florian Wirtz, would be right now. Wirtz is yet to produce one tenth of the magic Coutinho provided.

8) Andy Robertson

Who says you can’t buy from relegated sides?

Back in the summer of 2017, Liverpool sought a new left-back to supersede Alberto Moreno and narrowed their options down to two players.

Ben Davies was one, and Liverpool fans will be eternally grateful the club signed a Scotsman and not a Welshman.

During their respective peaks, Robertson and Virgil van Dijk (more on him later), formed arguably the best left-sided defensive pairing in world football, and not just for a short time either.

7) Luis Suarez

If compiling this list based purely on talent, Suarez would be number one. Unfortunately for the Uruguayan, longevity and a lack of trophies – not his fault on the second point, mind you – don’t swing in his favour.

Nevertheless, Suarez was the No 1 striker in world football during the 2013/14 campaign which remains arguably the greatest individual season in Premier League history.

None of his 31 goals in just 33 appearances that season were penalties, with Gerrard still assuming those duties at that time.

Suarez also provided 13 assists and almost single-handedly fired Liverpool to the Premier League title during a campaign in which they fielded a defence that shipped 50 goals.

Suarez is the only player to outscore both of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in a full season during the primes of their careers. He bagged 59 goals in the 2015/16 campaign compared to Messi’s 41 and Ronaldo’s 51.

However, that achievement came on another club’s watch and the fact Suarez only spent three-and-a-half years at Liverpool means he places no higher here.

6) Sami Hyypia

The bedrock of Liverpool’s defence throughout the 2000s and a huge reason why the club got back to winning trophies on a regular basis in that decade.

The Finnish legend was a massive threat in both boxes and formed two of Liverpool’s strongest centre-back pairings in the EPL era, first with Stephane Henchoz and then Jamie Carragher.

Hyypia was an almighty bargain when costing just £2.6m and but for Van Dijk, would be the highest ranked defender on this list.

5) Roberto Firmino

Difficult to split Firmino and Sadio Mane, so it makes sense to put them back-to-back in fifth and fourth.

Would Mane have scored as many goals as he did without Firmino in the side? Probably not. But it’s also true to say Firmino might not be rated as highly as he is if he didn’t have clinical wingers on both flanks who finished the moves he started.

In any case, what is clear is Mane and Salah made Firmino better and Firmino made Salah and Mane better. Without one, the greatest front three in Premier League history would not be talked about as it still is today.

4) Sadio Mane

20 goals a season from your wingers isn’t all that common anymore like it was in Mane’s day. It’s easy to take for granted just how deadly the Senegalese was given he was generally outscored by a certain Egyptian most years.

Nevertheless, Mane is Liverpool’s second greatest wide man since 1992 and when you’re behind *only Mo Salah*, there’s not a right lot more you could have done.

3) Alisson Becker

Alisson briefly became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when joining Liverpool for £66m back in 2018. If the Reds had paid £166m it would have still been a bargain.

Put simply, Alisson was, for a time, the embodiment of the perfect goalkeeper. He’s the best the Premier League has ever seen in one-v-one situations, was dominant under the high ball, could pass like a midfielder and made not just world-class saves, but world-class saves when it mattered most.

The arrivals of Alisson and the next two men on this list were, aside from Klopp, the biggest factors in Liverpool winning their sixth European Cup/Champions League followed by their first title in the Premier League era.

2) Virgil van Dijk

The best centre-back in Premier League history.

Some will say John Terry, others Rio Ferdinand, but they’re also the same people who can’t name one single part of the game either of those players were better than Van Dijk at.

During his peak years, strikers would go out of their way to avoid running at the great Dutchman. When the opposing team’s best players don’t even try to beat you, you know you’re levels above.

1) Mohamed Salah

It’s still said Klopp preferred signing Julian Brandt over Salah back when it came time to sign a forward in the summer of 2017. Talent identification was never Klopp’s strong suit.

Salah was the standard-setter at Liverpool, both in terms of professionalism and work ethic. He was also the top scorer or joint-top scorer at the club in every season with the Reds barring his last. Blame Arne Slot for that.

Salah walked Manchester United like a dog, and was on the scoresheet more often than not when Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were the opponents.

The list of records he holds at Liverpool and in the Premier League requires a full lunch break to get through, and that’s despite the fact he spent less than a decade on the Reds’ books.

He’s number one, and never say never, but in this humble author’s opinion, he’ll still be number one on this list at the turn of the next century.

Honourable mentions: Pepe Reina, Joel Matip, Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, Daniel Sturridge