Liverpool's rivals rated as $400M Arne Slot transfer spree put into proper context

In under a week, Liverpool will return to Premier League action. Just 82 days after lifting the trophy above his head at Anfield, captain Virgil van Dijk will lead his teammates out against Bournemouth.

"If you won it last season, it's quite normal that you are part of the favorites again for next season," Slot said ahead of facing Crystal Palace in the Community Shield at Wembley this weekend.

"For me, it would not be normal if it's about spending, because the net spend of us compared to the other teams is not in our favor, if you look at the last two seasons.

"But it's completely normal that we are one of the favorites, because we won it last season. And we brought in good players, like all the other ones did, by the way."

Here, Liverpool.com has taken a look at exactly what the Reds' rivals have been up to this summer. Who is most likely to be able to challenge Slot's side all the way to the end?

Arsenal

Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi are the main two signings Arsenal has made, and both will need to work for Mikel Arteta. His roster was lacking a quality number nine — will the Swede be that? — and he now has another top-class midfielder.

Noni Madueke is a slightly strange addition at $70 million (£52 million), while Cristhian Mosquera is one for the future. Christian Norgaard will add experience and depth, while Kepa Arrizabalaga is a low-cost squad option.

While Arsenal should have improved on last season, will it have done enough to close the gap to Liverpool? There is still time in the transfer window, but the Gunners are still lacking one more quality attacking option to guarantee goals.

Man City

Having quietly spent a huge amount of money in 2025 ($410 million/£305 million, according to Transfermarkt), Manchester City will need to improve massively from last season.

The impact of being in the Club World Cup is unknown, but the return of Rodri from an ACL injury should make a big difference (even if that has now been delayed because of another setback). Omar Marmoush looks like a great player after he arrived in January but the other additions are more solid than spectacular.

Pep Guardiola has challenged himself to get Manchester City back on track again — a bit like Jurgen Klopp, who waited to depart Liverpool until it was back in the Champions League again — and he has brought in Pep Lijnders to help.

Will it be as good as Liverpool this season, though? It can't be ruled out completely, but the Reds have improved at least as much, if not more, on paper. Florian Wirtz, for example, is considerably better than any Manchester City signing.

Chelsea

It would be foolish to completely rule out the new World Champions but that title doesn't tell the whole story. Hammering PSG was very impressive, but having gone all the way, that will take a lot out of the players' legs.

Joao Pedro could ignite and Liam Delap is a solid signing, but is Jamie Gittens ready to make the next leap in his career? Each of them are big-money additions, but none are nailed on to cement Chelsea in the Premier League title race.

Enzo Maresca did well to get back into Europe's top-tier competition last season, but he hasn't signed an elite center-back (Jorrel Hato could become one but isn't there yet) and is still without a world-class goalkeeper and number nine.

Chelsea should improve, and Cole Palmer has shown signs of getting back to his best again, which can only help. It is hard to see the Blues being consistent enough to win the league, however, and they might be dead on their feet by Christmas having played all summer.

Best of the rest

Which other teams could put themselves in contention? Newcastle United would have been a strong bet at the start of the summer but things have unraveled there pretty quickly.

Eddie Howe has failed to get lots of targets through the door and could lose his star man in Alexander Isak. If that happens, then it might be a stretch even to make the top five again.

Aston Villa is the other team that might have been able to make the next leap, but its previous big spending has limited what it could do in the market. Evann Guessand has arrived from Nice for around $40 million (£30 million) but that won't be enough to catapult Unai Emery's side to the next level.

In short, Liverpool will head into the new campaign as the title favorite, and rightly so. The rest have done some decent work in the transfer market, but nothing as good as what Slot and Richard Hughes have pulled off.

On paper, at least, Liverpool's $400M spree (offset by around half of that coming back in through sales) looks very impressive — and it could yet continue.