Here's a good writeup from the Independent. Some of this has already been discussed yesterday but this article provides greater detail on why we didn't proceed with the Dempsey move. I've cut out a piece of the full article (http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/liverpool-reject-owen-as-henry-admits-errors-8102806.html)
QUOTE
A series of events contributed to the Dempsey deal not going ahead. Jordan Henderson, offered as makeweight in that deal, had decided by last Thursday that he did not want to move to Craven Cottage. Liverpool also now accept that Fulham's deep sense of grievance about the events of a messy summer, where the Dempsey deal was concerned, proved significant, leading the London club to quote Liverpool a higher price than for others. Irked by the knowledge that Aston Villa had been asked for considerably less – £4m-£5m – Liverpool rejected Fulham's price on a point of principle. In retrospect, a headline posted in error on FSG's own website while the club were on tour in the United States in July – "Liverpool gear up for North American Tour as Clint Dempsey joins club" – has proved calamitous.
Henry's letter was unable to absolve the owners or the club of the disastrous decision not to attach a caveat to discussions with West Ham, which would have prevented Carroll leaving Anfield if no replacement for him came in last week. Neither did it identify the advisers who convinced FSG to go against Rodgers' wishes on buying Dempsey outlay – when it was FSG who were persuaded by Rodgers, for better or worse, that the Northern Irishman should possess the powers they had wanted to invest in a director of football.
But the statement did bear out the sense of FSG as owners with an enlightened financial philosophy to "buy prudently and cleverly and never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages". The letter provided the latest of many Henry communications about the club's determination to adhere to Uefa's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regime.
It is as yet unclear where Liverpool stand with FFP compliance as the 2011-12 and 2012-13 accounts will be used. Aggregate losses of €45m (£35.8m) will be permitted in those two financial years, as the regime is eased in.
The owners are willing to accept a mid-table position for Liverpool this season, as the price for adhering to their philosophy. This will be a long, bumpy road to recovery but, despite supporters' expectations, it is the only one.
In summary, here's why FSG were reluctant to sign Dempsey.
1) Jordan Henderson's refusal to move. Hmm... it says that he was offered as "makeweight". We signed him for close to $20 million and Dempsey was offered to us at $7 million so how much do were we going to value Henderson at for this deal to go through? Doesn't make sense unless we were going to ship him to them on loan.
2) Fulham wanted us to pay a higher price than the others because of the messy summer where even on FSG's website, we claimed he was already joining us. I can understand why Fulham were pissed. What we did is almost akin to tapping up a player. I don't think either party was wrong here. We refused on principal and they wanted more because of what we did.
3) Buying prudently. To be honest I don't think that refusing to sign a player who had just scored 23 goals for a paltry sum despite his age (not even 30 btw) was being prudent. I think it had more to do with reason 2).
As to why we loaned Carroll out? Well it had to do with our cash flow I feel. With FFP taking effect, we cannot afford expensive passengers.