Transfer error could cost Liverpool more than £50m to fix

Liverpool cleared the decks last summer - switching out several Premier League-winning players for £450m worth of new signings.

Permanent deals were arranged for the likes of Caoimhin Kelleher, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jarell Quansah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz.

Others - who didn’t feature in the title win - were also sold in the shape of Nat Phillips, Tyler Morton and Ben Gannon-Doak. And a couple of players sporting director Richard Hughes wasn’t able to shift permanently also took their leave.

Harvey Elliott, 22, moved to Aston Villa on a one-year loan deal with an obligation to buy should certain criteria be met. The former England under-21 star needs to play 10 matches for Unai Emery’s side before a £35m purchase clause kicks in.

Elliott faces being sent back to Liverpool

However, a problem for Elliott - and for Liverpool - is that he is currently stuck on five games and faces potentially being frozen out.

If that proves to be the case then the deal won’t go through and Liverpool will have no choice but to welcome him back. While Elliott could arguably augment Arne Slot’s midfield and attacking options, Liverpool would no doubt love to cash in.

They couldn’t achieve that last summer and it looks like the deal they instead settled for now looks less than favourable.

If Villa send him back short of the 10 games required for a permanent deal then he will have only one year left on his contract until it expires in 2027.

Who in their right minds is going to pay anything close to £35m for a bit-part performer whose contract expires in only 12 months?

The chances of Elliott signing a new deal with Liverpool are remote - given his lack of football under Slot - and so the club could find themselves well short of their transfer fee expectations.

Tsimikas struggling badly at Roma

In a similar boat is Kostas Tsimikas.

With Andy Robertson well-established at left-back - and Milos Kerkez coming in to take over - it was decided that the 29-year-old would move on loan to Roma for the season.

And while Elliott at least had an option of sorts included in his deal, Greece international Tsimikas moved on a “dry loan”. It meant the Serie A side had no option in the deal - nor an obligation to purchase the defender. And that’s a good thing… for Roma.

Because Tsimikas is pulling up no trees in the Italian capital and the club are already close to writing his signing off as a failure.

Signed as an alternative to first-choice Angelino, Tsimikas has been unable to force regular starts even with the Spaniard injured. It now looks like he will be sent back to Liverpool next summer and - like Elliott - he will have only one year on his deal.

Liverpool needed obligations in loan deals

Liverpool now find themselves in a position where they could be missing out on significant revenues owing to the structure of these loan deals.

Perhaps the club were so eager to get Elliott and Tsimikas off the books that they made a more than accommodating deal with interested clubs on each.

Now they will end up looking for new homes for the pair next summer - and have next to no chance of gaining any kind of decent fee.

Liverpool should have included obligatory clauses in these deals before agreeing to them. If Elliott can be valued at £35m with two years left on his deal then surely Tsimikas could have been worth at least £15m to £20m.

So that’s potentially £50m or more of transfer income gone down the drain as a result of these short-sighted signings.

The Reds will instead have to find buyers for both on cut-price deals as neither will be minded to extend their Anfield contracts.

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