Liverpool’s business over the past three transfer windows has been bold, but there have been some mistakes along the way.

The Reds broke the British transfer record twice in one window just 18 months ago, have added three players for over £110 million and spent a total of over £650 million since winning the Premier League in 2025.

Andoni Iraola’s squad feels some way from being complete however, and the decision to sell Curtis Jones this summer without signing a replacement has looked increasingly naive as the campaign has progressed.

Liverpool could use another elite midfielder, and their biggest mistake was not singing a player who ended up at one of their biggest rivals.

One of the players who had been heavily linked with a Merseyside move for some time was Elliot Anderson, who made the switch from Nottingham Forest to Manchester City for £116 million in the summer.

Anderson is widely regarded as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders, and he showed exactly why he has earned that reputation when City visited Anfield on Sunday.

In what ended up being an embarrassing collapse for Liverpool, the 23-year-old shone, having the most touches in the game, making the most passes, winning the most duels and also winning the most fouls in the match.

The recruitment team at Anfield will have been watching on, wondering what could’ve been if the England international had moved to Merseyside over Manchester.

From a tactical formation and squad depth perspective, "Liverpool's biggest summer mistake is now very clear" carries substantial tournament implications for international seeding and domestic campaign momentum. Coaching staffs are heavily weighing high-pressing efficiency (PPDA), defensive transition pace, and fixture fatigue management.

Tactical analysts monitoring Transfer Wire metrics emphasize that squad adaptability and set-piece execution will likely dictate outcomes in high-leverage knockout environments. Real-time match telemetry and tracking data continue to inform managerial decision-making.

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