Liverpool: Mohamed Salah defends former teammates Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz after Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz comparison | Football News

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has defended his former teammates after a fan social media page claimed the Reds have produced the “biggest upgrade in football history” on two attacking stars.

The X account implied that Liverpool had seriously upgraded on the attacking options of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez by bringing in Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak for a combined £241m.

But Salah called for more respect for Diaz and Nunez, who delivered a Premier League title for Arne Slot’s side.

He quoted the post and said: “How about we celebrate the great signings without disrespecting the PL champions?”

Isak arrived at Liverpool late on Deadline Day after a transfer saga that had rumbled on throughout the summer. He cost the Reds £125m – a British transfer record.

He is currently with the Sweden squad ahead of their World Cup qualifiers. If he plays, it will be his first minutes of the season after he refused to feature for Newcastle in a bid to engineer an exit.

Wirtz joined before the start of the season for £116m and has started in each Premier League game so far. He was taken off late on with a knock against Arsenal on Super Sunday.

Diaz left Liverpool for Bayern Munich earlier in the window for £65m, with Wirtz seen as his replacement. Darwin Nunez moved to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, and Isak will now wear his vacated No 9 shirt.

Between them, Diaz and Nunez made almost 300 appearances for Liverpool.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher replied to Salah’s quote on X with a red heart emoji, suggesting he agrees with the forward’s sentiments.

Carragher: Isak, Wissa sagas could lead to sad days for football

Carragher believes the Isak and Yoane Wissa transfer sagas could lead to a “sad day for football” in the future – after both strikers effectively went on strike in order to gain their moves.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Carragher said: “You look at Guehi, who conducted himself fantastically well and still feels a fan favourite with the Palace supporters and the manager speaking highly of him as well. He will have to wait maybe until January now or next summer to get that move.

“Other players in this position in a year’s time will look at how Isak and Wissa have gone about it and how that gives them a greater opportunity to get out – and that would be a sad day for football. Because I don’t think it’s been great how both players have conducted themselves.

“I have no issue with players wanting to leave a club – transfers happen and it’s part and parcel of the game. It’s understandable that those two players want to move on and play for bigger clubs to give them a better chance for their careers and to win more silverware, or maybe gain more money.

“But I can’t help but think that if someone is putting thousands of pounds in your bank account every week, you should be training and playing.

“But would both those players have moved if that wasn’t the case? We don’t know. Both players have not got what they want, you have to move on for that. Let’s see what happens for both players for Liverpool and Newcastle respectively.”

WATCH: How Isak’s move to Liverpool unfolded on Deadline Day

How Liverpool funded their record-breaking £446m window

In a summer which saw Premier League clubs spend unprecedented sums, it was Liverpool who led the way with British-record-breaking deals.

In total, Liverpool spent £446m – the most ever spent by a Premier League club in a single window, eclipsing the £434.5m spent by Chelsea in the summer of 2023.

Already top of the Premier League again, the champions completed the three biggest transfers of the summer – Alexander Isak for a record £125m, Florian Wirtz for £116.5m and Hugo Ekitike for £79m.

In fact, the landmark fee for Isak was more than 10 Premier League clubs spent in the entire window.

But how, in the era of PSR, did the champions finance such a huge transfer spend?

Here, Sky Sports’ Peter Smith takes a look at the summer of spending…

How Hughes plotted life after Klopp & Reds’ record-breaking spend

Richard Hughes took on the seemingly impossible job when agreeing to become Liverpool sporting director in March last year.

This summer the Scot has broken the British transfer record by signing Alexander Isak, while overseeing the biggest transfer spend in the club’s history.

This is how he did it.

In

Milos Kerkez – Bournemouth, £40m

Florian Wirtz – Bayer Leverkusen, £116m

Jeremie Frimpong – Bayer Leverkusen, £29.5m

Giorgi Mamardashvili – Valencia, £29m

Hugo Ekitike – Eintracht Frankfurt, £79m

Armin Pecsi – Puskas Akademia, £1.5m

Freddie Woodman – Preston, free

Will Wright – Salford City, undisclosed

Giovanni Leoni – Parma, £26m

Alexander Isak – Newcastle, £125m

Out

Darwin Nunez – Al Hilal, £56.6m

Trent Alexander-Arnold – Real Madrid, £10m

Caoimhin Kelleher – Brentford, £18m

Jarell Quansah – Bayer Leverkusen, £35m

Luis Diaz – Bayern Munich, £65m

Tyler Morton – Lyon, £15m

Nat Phillips – West Brom, £3m

Ben Gannon Doak – Liverpool, £25m

Vitezslav Jaros – Ajax, loan

Isaac Mabaya – Wigan, loan

Owen Beck – Derby, loan

Luca Stephenson – Dundee United, loan

Lewis Koumas – Birmingham City, loan

James Balagizi – Forest Green, loan

James McConnell – Ajax, loan

Kostas Tsimikas – Roma, loan

Harvey Elliott – Aston Villa, loan