Liverpool Bolstered by £97.5m Windfall Ahead of Busy Summer Transfer Window

Liverpool's agonising second place finish in the Premier League has been offset by a commercial windfall which outstripped all Premier League clubs in the 2013/14 season – timely news ahead of a potentially busy summer transfer window.

Despite finishing second in the Premier League and missing out on a first championship for 24 years, the Reds earned £97.5m in television payments - ahead of champions Manchester City - after being shown live 28 times during the domestic season.

In total, Premier League clubs were paid 1.5bn, an increase of £600m from last season following a new batch of broadcasting deals secured by currently under-fire chief executive Richard Scudamore.

Relegated trio Cardiff City, Fulham and Norwich City all earned more than Manchester United did when they won the title in the 2012/13 season, with the Old Trafford club themselves seeing their television payments improve by £28.4m despite achieving their worst ever Premier League finish.

But with the summer transfer window on the horizon, the news that Liverpool have had their coffers bolstered gives manager Rodgers a big boost.

The Northern Irish boss has made no secret of his desire to improve Liverpool's squad after the club finished two points behind City and ahead of a return to the Champions League he says plans for the summer have already begun.

"For me, it's about planning," Rodgers said. "We have the core of the squad now.

"Two years ago, when I came in, I was looking to introduce new ideas but a lot of the players weren't there because of the European Championship.

"That affected the start of the season. At least this summer we have the principles bedded in place and the players that come in will be the profile we want. It should be better for us this summer.

"I don't want to put a figure on how many but I would rather have one or two absolute top players than seven that might not help us.

"It's about the quality. We can't be going into the Champions League this year with doubts about players. We have to be going in knowing what the players' capacity to play is and their capabilities.

"Ideally you would want to get things done beforehand but it is difficult because transfers are so complex.

"The World Cup does make it difficult but the club and ourselves have been preparing for quite a few months now so we will try and get the business done as early as we can."