I have looked around the internet and most of the investigations into the topic are of Benitez's net spend. I have instead decided to go a different route and focus solely on Benitez's purchases as some of the money that he made is from selling players already at the club. A look at the table shows that he has spent a total of 226.01 million while 214.975 million has been earned from the sale of the same players. That represented a loss of 11.035 million, not discounting the players that are still in the team. Those players are namely Reina, Agger, Leiva, Skrtel and Johnson. That makes up almost half of the starting eleven for the current Liverpool team. I am sure that Agger alone will make up the 11 million loss and if all five players are sold, it can be said that the players Benitez bought actually turned in a profit for the team.
Moreover, a number of the players that Benitez bought in did a decent job for the club before being sold. One example of this is Luis Garcia, who had performed decently in the attacking roles in the team before being sold for a 2 million loss. Another guy also sold for a 2 million loss, Kyrgiakos, was brought in to temporarily strengthen the center back positions due to injuries and his contract was terminated when he was no longer needed. The losses can be said to have been payment for their services during their prime years and they were moved on when their form dropped. Therefore, Benitez actually was trying to push the team forward using the limited resources available to him.
It is reasonable to say that Benitez did not fare that well in the transfer window though. One thing that points greatly against him is that he has brought in players at big fees, only to sell them not long after after he realised they did not fit well into their plans. Robbie Keane is the prime example here. Signed for 16 million, he only lasted 6 months in Liverpool before being sold back to Tottenham for a loss. Such indecision on the part of Benitez on the players he need is of course frustrating for the fans, who know that the money can be better spent on other players to improve the team. The money is there, just that it was not spent well, although the overall loss was not a lot. This is a major difference from teams that do not have the money to spend and the fans will know that it is not the manager's fault.
I will say that Benitez did a decent job at purchasing players at Liverpool but definitely not a fantastic one. It remains to be seen whether my opinion will change in the coming transfer window, with Chelsea probably needing a few good signings to really challenge for the title.
