Liverpool’s best signings ever
Throughout their long and successful history, Liverpool has signed a slew of talented players.
The Reds have done some amazing transfer business throughout the years, from bargain talent snatched from the lesser levels to record-breaking additions.
Here, Footballcfc gives you the rundown of the 34 best Liverpool signings of all time.
Liverpool’s best signings ever
34. James Milner
Utility players were not exactly in vogue when James Milner joined Liverpool as a free agency in the summer of 2015 – but boy did he make himself an important member of the Reds side.
The midfielder-winger-full-back won every award available during his eight-year stint at Anfield, including the Champions League in 2018/19 and the Premier League title the following season, under Jurgen Klopp.
33. Steve McMahon
Steve McMahon, one of the few players to have played for both Liverpool and Everton, joined the Reds from Aston Villa in September 1985, having departed Goodison Park two years before. Liverpool’s best signings ever
The England midfielder became a fan favourite at Anfield during six years with the club, when he helped them win three First Division titles and two FA Cups.
32. John Aldridge
John Alridge’s Liverpool tenure was brief but fruitful: the Republic of Ireland striker scored 63 goals in 104 appearances for the Reds over two and a half years. Liverpool’s best signings ever
Aldo was born in Liverpool but began his career with Welsh team Newport County before returning home to become a hero at Anfield, winning the First Division title and FA Cup before joining Real Sociedad in January 1987.
31. John Toshack
John Toshack was a serial champion for Liverpool, winning three First Division titles and four continental titles, including the European Cup in 1976/77, the Reds’ first triumph in that competition.
The Welsh striker, regarded as one of Liverpool’s best players of all time, created a legendary attacking trio with Kevin Keegan and Steve Heighway in the early 1970s, after joining Bill Shankly’s Reds from Cardiff City. Liverpool’s best signings ever
30. Phil Neal
Phil Neal was one of the most successful English footballers of all time, winning 16 major medals during his 11 years with Liverpool, including four European Cups and seven Premier League crowns.
The full-back was signed from lower-league Northampton Town in October 1974 and made his Reds debut in the Merseyside derby. He went on to play 650 times for the club.
29. Georginio Wijnaldum
Liverpool’s best signings ever
Georginio Wijnaldum was an incredibly important midfield cog in Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpressing engine during Liverpool’s historic 2019/20 season, when they eventually became Premier League champions for the first time.
Signed from Newcastle for £23 million in 2016, the Dutch destroyer appeared in 179 league games out of a potential 190 in his five seasons with the Reds, helping them to Champions League triumph in 2018/19.
28. Sami Hyypia
Sami Hyypia joined Liverpool from Dutch club Willem II in 1999 and was a major player of Gerard Houllier’s side that won the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, and League Cup in 2000/01.
The towering Finnish centre-back, who briefly served as captain at Anfield, went on to make 464 appearances for the club, scoring 35 goals (mostly headers from set-pieces) and helping them win the Champions League in 2004/05.
27. Jan Molby
A member of Liverpool’s last three title-winning sides of the pre-Premier League era, Danish icon Jan Molby played 281 games for the Reds during an 11-year spell at Anfield.
So popular was the midfielder on Merseyside that, in 2009, he was made an ‘Honorary Scouser’ by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool – a very classy touch indeed!
26. Jordan Henderson
Jordan Henderson’s choice to quit Liverpool for Saudi Arabia in 2023 damaged his Anfield legacy, but as captain of the Reds’ first Premier League title-winning club, he merits a place on this list. Liverpool’s best signings ever
Signed from Sunderland in the summer of 2011, the England midfielder was a faithful servant under three Liverpool managers, collecting every piece of silverware available during his stay at the club.
25. Ronnie Whelan
Ronnie Whelan, another Kop favourite, spent 15 years with Liverpool after joining from Dublin-based club Home Farm for £35,000 in September 1979.
He went on to win six First Division titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, and a European Cup with the Reds, scoring the game-winning goal against Manchester United in the 1983 League Cup final, one of many critical goals he scored.
24. Bruce Grobbelaar
Bruce Grobbelaar, well known for his’spaghetti legs’ technique in the penalty shootout that helped Liverpool win the European Cup in 1983/84, is regarded as one of Liverpool’s greatest keepers. Liverpool’s best signings ever
Between 1982 and 1990, he was a member of six First Division title-winning squads for Liverpool, appearing 628 times after being signed from the relative obscurity of NASL outfit Vancouver Whitecaps in 1981.
23. Fernando Torres
When Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool bought Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2007, he was one of Europe’s most sought-after young strikers. Liverpool’s best signings ever
And El Nino didn’t take long to live up to his legendary status: the Spaniard scored 33 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions during his debut season with Liverpool, totaling 81 goals before joining Chelsea in 2011.
22. Ray Kennedy
Ray Kennedy had previously won the First Division and FA Cup with Arsenal when he joined Liverpool for £200,000 in July 1974, and he went on to win a slew of further trophies with the Reds.
Bill Shankly signed Kennedy as a centre-forward, but Bob Paisley changed him to a left-sided midfielder, and he proceeded to succeed, finishing his eight-year Anfield career with five First Division titles and three European Cups, among other accolades.
21. Mark Lawrenson
Mark Lawrenson, signed from Brighton in the summer of 1981 for £900,000 – a club record transfer fee at the time – was one of Liverpool’s primary men throughout the 1980s.
The Republic of Ireland defender, who later became a witty Match of the Day pundit, won First Division titles under Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, and Kenny Dalglish, appearing in every league game of the historic 1983/84 season, which also featured European Cup glory.
20. Ray Clemence
Ray Clemence, unquestionably one of the best keepers of all time, is in a limited group of players with over 1,000 career appearances, 665 of which he played for Liverpool.
Clemence preserved clean sheets in 323 of those games, and he finished his glittering 14-year tenure with the Reds, whom he joined from Scunthorpe United in 1967, with four First Division titles, three European Cups, and two UEFA Cups.
19. Terry McDermott
Terry McDermott, the moustachioed, permed Liverpool great, arrived to Anfield in November 1974, returning to his hometown following periods with Bury and Newcastle to begin his career.
And things couldn’t have gone any better for the superb midfielder as a Red: he waLiverpool’s best signings evers an English champion five times and a European champion three times, scoring 81 goals in 329 games under the legendary Bob Paisley.
18. Roberto Firmino
Roberto Firmino’s sparkling whites could have been enough to endear him to the Anfield faithful, but Liverpool’s grinning Brazilian pressing hero did far more to establish himself as an all-time fan favourite.
Brendan Rodgers signed the striker from Hoffenheim for £29 million in the summer of 2015, and he went on to become one of the world’s finest exponents of the false nine role under Jurgen Klopp, scoring 111 goals in eight years with the Reds, playing in every game of their 2019/20 Premier League title triumph.
17. Alan Kennedy
Alan Kennedy, a two-time European Cup winner with Liverpool, scored the game-winning penalty in the shootout against Roma in the 1984 final, one of his final significant contributions in a Reds shirt.
But the full-back, who joined Liverpool from Newcastle in 1978, made enough of them during his eight-year stay, during which he won five First Division titles.
16. Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane was one of several players that moved from Southampton to Liverpool in the mid- to late-2010s, and he landed at Anfield for £34 million in the summer of 2016. Liverpool’s best signings ever
And six years later, the Senegalese superstar left having become one of the Reds’ top scorers of the Premier League era: Mane scored 120 goals in all competitions, winning every major trophy on offer and sharing the 2018/19 Golden Boot.
15. Alisson
Alisson was one of Europe’s most sought-after keepers when he joined Liverpool from Roma for £66.8 million in July 2018, making him the most expensive keeper of all time (until Chelsea shattered the mark a few weeks later with the signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga).
And it didn’t take long for the Brazilian to establish himself as arguably the best in the world, as he helped the Reds win the Champions League and the Premier League in each of his first two seasons at Anfield – before proving he could do it all by sensationally scoring a crucial 95th-minute winner against West Brom in 2021.
14. Alan Hansen
Alan Hansen berated ‘diabolical’ Premier League defending as a pundit on Match of the Day for many years, and he should know: the no-nonsense Scotsman was one of Europe’s top center-halves during his time at Liverpool.
Hansen, who was signed from Partick Thistle for £100,000 in 1977, won eight First Division titles in 14 years with the Reds, as well as three European Cups, five FA Cups, and three League Cups.
13. Ian St John
Ian St John, who hosted Saint and Greavsie with Jimmy Greaves, became an even bigger TV celebrity than his Scottish counterpart Hansen, but he was a tremendous Liverpool hero even before that.
St John, a £37,500 transfer from Motherwell in 1961, was a key player of the Bill Shankly team that went from the Second Division to win the First Division title just two years later. He scored 118 goals for the Reds, 78 of which were at Anfield.
12. Andy Robertson
Andy Robertson was playing in the Scottish fourth tier for historic amateur club Queens Park in 2013; six years later, he was one of the world’s top left-backs in Liverpool’s Champions League success.
Signed from Championship Hull City for under £8 million in the summer of 2017, Robertson quickly established himself as one of Jurgen Klopp’s most vital players in his role as a flying, pinpoint-crossing full-back, more than living up to his modest price tag.
11. Emlyn Hughes
Emlyn Hughes, captain of Liverpool’s first two European Cup-winning teams, is widely regarded as one of the greatest English footballers of all time.
Bill Shankly signed the dynamic midfielder-turned-defender from Blackpool in 1967, and he went on to captain his country. Hughes won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1977 and was a four-time First Division champion with the Reds.
10. Ron Yeats
Scottish centre-half Ron Yeats joined Liverpool from Dundee United in 1961, becoming an important part of Bill Shankly’s amazing Reds rebuilding project.
He went on to enjoy a wonderful decade at Anfield, helping Liverpool earn promotion back to the top tier as Second Division champions in his first season, before going on to help them win the First Division title in 1963/64 and 1965/66, as well as the FA Cup in between.
9. Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk’s £75 million transfer from Southampton to Liverpool in January 2018 shattered the world transfer record for a defender – and it proved to be money well spent for the Reds.
Van Dijk established himself as probably the world’s greatest defender for a couple of years, playing every league game for Jurgen Klopp’s side in 2018/19 and 2019/20. He was named PFA Player of the Year and Liverpool Fans’ and Players’ Player of the Year in 2018/19, his first full season with the club.
Following Jordan Henderson’s departure in 2023, he was appointed club captain.
8. Roger Hunt
Roger Hunt, one of Liverpool’s all-time leading scorers, scored 285 goals in 492 games throughout his 11-year career.
Signed in 1958 from non-league Stockton Heath (now Warrington Town), the striker – a 1966 World Cup winner with England – won two First Division titles and an FA Cup under Bill Shankly and earned the nickname Sir Roger among Anfield supporters.
7. Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez’s time at Liverpool was brief but fruitful: in three-and-a-half seasons, the Uruguayan legend scored 82 goals in all competitions, including some really magnificent efforts.
Suarez, who won the Premier League Golden Boot and Player of the Season in 2013/14 after scoring 31 goals in 33 league appearances, joined Liverpool from Ajax for £22.8 million in January 2011 and was sold to Barcelona for just under £65 million in the summer of 2014, giving the Reds a tidy profit.
6. John Barnes
Few Anfield arrivals have left as lasting a mark on the Reds as left-footed wing magician John Barnes, who was named Liverpool’s best ever player by FourFourTwo in 2016.
The England international joined the Reds in 1987 after leaving Watford, and he went on to score 106 goals in 403 appearances, winning two First Division titles and two FA Cups, and being named FWA Footballer of the Year twice.
5. Graeme Souness
Graeme Souness captained Liverpool’s wildly successful early 1980s team, winning three European Cups and five First Division titles in just six years with the club he would eventually coach.
The tough-tackling Scotland midfielder joined Liverpool in 1978, making 354 appearances under first Bob Paisley, then Joe Fagan, before moving to Serie A and Sampdoria.
4. Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan was not only one of Liverpool’s best ever players, but one of the best players of all time. He lit up Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley’s Reds teams during the 1970s.
Keegan joined Liverpool as a 20-year-old from Scunthorpe United for £33,000 in 1971, and his most memorable season in a Liverpool shirt was 1976/77, when he helped them to the First Division title and their first European Cup (although he also won two more league titles, two UEFA Cups, and an FA Cup – not a bad return, really!).
3. Ian Rush
Ian Rush collected 346 goals in two spells with Liverpool, either side of a disastrous term with Juventus, averaging more than one every other game and stamping his name into Reds folklore for all time.
Signed from Chester City in 1980, the free-scoring Welshman won two European Cups and five First Division titles, among many other accolades, and, in addition to winning the Golden Boot that season, was named PFA Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year for 1983/84.
2. Mo Salah
Liverpool’s Egyptian King had previously flopped in the Premier League with Chelsea; he couldn’t have set his stall out any more emphatically after joining the Reds from Roma in 2017, though, scoring a remarkable 44 goals in 52 appearances during his first campaign at the club.
And he just continued to bang in the goals, winning three Premier League Golden Boots by 2021/22 – by which time he’d also become an English and European champion with Jurgen Klopp’s team.
1. Kenny Dalglish
Whatever top signings Liverpool makes in the modern period, Kenny Dalglish appears unlikely to be deposed as the club’s greatest player of all time very soon.
King Kenny joined the Reds in August 1977 for a then-British record fee of £440,000, and he had a dazzling 13-year playing career, scoring 172 goals in 515 games.
Dalglish was a six-time First Division champion and three-time European Cup winner while playing for Liverpool. He would also manage the Reds to three First Division titles (the first as player-manager) and had Anfield’s Centenary Stand renamed after him in 2017 – before being knighted the following year.
