Where they will (hopefully) hurt is on player trading moving forward as they’ll be squeezed at both ends. Their south coast kopite brethren (Bournemouth Southampton and Brighton) won’t suddenly be finding these annual 15 mill pots of money to spend on the players Liverpool don’t want any more. In a normal window you could guarantee one of those clubs would come in massively over market value for a player like Curtis Jones or Chirivella. At the other end they are unlikely to attract bids from big clubs way above their market value. I can’t see Madrid or Barcelona coming in with the 150 mill plus bids that the Kopites were mooting for Mane or Salah now. That type of cash isn’t in the game and if a club could find it they’re not going to spend it on 28 years olds. The third leg of their transfer approach (manipulating their dubious relationship with Roma’s owners to take their best players) could still be viable as Roma will be looking to sell but without the funds from the first two sources, will they have the cash to put down big bids for players like Zaniolo or Werner without selling one of their first team stars?
I think you essentially nail it. Football is going into a big recession, and they are a club that gambles substantially on the good times continuing. On the first point, no- those clubs will be reigning it in massively as the PL loses a lot of cash. I'd also add, across Europe the clubs who take their players on loan and pay their wages will also be down too. They kind of hope clubs will take them, increase the value and sell them on. Suddenly, the value will have been lost and they are probably left having to foot the bill of a lot of the loan stars that are returning (them and Chelsea are the worst for this.
At the other end you are spot on as well. I know we've spoken a lot about the ageing squad and from a playing perspective they are fine but everyone is saying now that players 27+ are essentially going to lose massive value. I think they missed the boat, but at least 1 summer (and probably in Firmino's case 3) to move their front 3 on. Last summer, at 27 Real Madrid just laughed at Liverpools £150m asking price. They wouldn't go anywhere near it. You factor in another year older of say 20% (a rough guide for players 27+) and you are at £120m. Factor in loss of value of anywhere from 40%-50% and their asking price is now £60-£70m. Real Madrid laughed it off last summer, so may well drive them down further. If they need to sell to make the wage payments, or had pencilled in a sale it starts to get quite critical.I doubt Madrid go much higher than £50m for Mane. They could keep him and hope his value picks up, but next summer he's 29, and a player who relies on pace.
I'll be frank, I can't even see them getting young prospects this summer. They will try to move out what they can as best as they can and look to keep the squad together. Like Spurs and City before them though, they have to hope they don't start to slide as they go a bit over the hill.