JURGEN KLOPP WOULD prefer Liverpool to “risk a bit more” in the transfer market but he ultimately accepts their situation as the search for a midfielder goes to the wire.
Liverpool’s outlay on Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay this summer may end up costing them just north of £100million but they will recoup around three quarters of that on outgoings.
While Klopp is seeking to bolster his squad in the middle of the park before the transfer window closes on Thursday night, the Reds manager recognises the decision is out of his hands.
When asked whether he feels he has been adequately backed by owners Fenway Sports Group, Klopp said: “What I don’t like is if I say now ‘I’m not sure’ then you make a big thing of it.
“What does it mean ‘backed’? I realise it was always like this. Is it always easy? No. Do we discuss this kind of things in public? Of course not.
“Let me say it like this, from time to time, I would be ready to risk a bit more but I don’t decide that and that’s fine. We try everything until the deadline.”
Klopp revealed there is “light at the end of the tunnel, definitely” surrounding a glut of injuries in their squad ahead of the visit of Newcastle in the Premier League on Wednesday evening.
Curtis Jones and Joel Matip are back in training while Diogo Jota, Thiago Alcantara, Caoimhin Kelleher and Ramsay are all making promising progress in their rehabilitation from injuries.
The number of players sidelined in the early part of the season means Klopp is still on the hunt for reinforcements – and he has not yet given up hope of signing a midfielder.
He said: “There’s still time but when it’s over and whether someone signs or not, I’ll be really happy about it because we can stop thinking about it and just focus on the squad and team we have.
“The closer we get to the last minute, the more unlikely it gets. We are not out but it’s really difficult.
“For sure there are a few players out there which would be the right ones but they have different issues. Some of them are contracts or clubs don’t want to sell. We cannot force it. We’ll see.”
While Liverpool and Newcastle have both won one of their four top-flight fixtures this season, there has been a growing sense of optimism around the Magpies, who are 80 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The new hierarchy have given the green light to several high-profile signings – with Alexander Isak arriving for a club record £60million last week – and Klopp feels Eddie Howe’s side are on the right track to gatecrashing the elite in English football.
Klopp said: “If Eddie gets time, they will definitely be. Newcastle is a great club and had a lot of success in the past. For a few years not that much any more but they have everything you need to be a top-six club – or whatever that means. They are a threat.”
Liverpool got in the win column this campaign by equalling the biggest victory in Premier League history on Saturday, with recently-promoted Bournemouth thrashed 9-0 at Anfield.
Klopp added: “First and foremost, the scoreline is a freaky one. We don’t expect a freakish scoreline again for a lot obvious reasons. What I want to keep is the way we played.
“If we would have won 1-0 I would have been over the moon. The way we played, we have to take into the next game because that’s the way we want to play but no one should expect that score again.”
Newcastle’s record signing Alexander Isak faces an anxious wait to see if his work permit is processed in time for him to finally make his debut at Anfield.
The 22-year-old striker was unable to play at Wolves on Sunday because the required documentation had not arrived and with fellow frontman Allan Saint-Maximin struggling with a hamstring problem, head coach Eddie Howe is desperate to have him available.
Midfielder Bruno Guimaraes missed the game at Molineux with a similar injury and remains a doubt, while full-back Emil Krafth is facing up to nine months on the sidelines with knee ligament damage, joining midfielder Jonjo Shelvey and striker Callum Wilson (both hamstring) on the casualty list.
Good to have the Matip and Jones back. They will be welcome additions and certainly gives klopp more options. The 3 they need to get back more than any though are Thiago, Jota and Nunez
@James horgan: matip has certainly been a loss, Gomez still not rediscovered the form he had before his injury so not at the right level still. Can’t wait for Jota to be fit, he brings so much to the team.
If we don’t get another midfielder does anyone trust Klopp won’t get a tune out of what’s there if fit. Losing so many body’s like that affects every team in world football. You can’t buy enough players to legislate for that many missing. Hard reading some sh.!*e online
@Darren Fitzpatrick: the midfield certainly an area of concern. Age has definitely caught up with Milner and to a lesser extent Henderson. Keita never really consistently good enough, Jones though still young has not progressed enough, will assume the Ox is finished at club, an unfortunate run of injuries meant he another who didn’t consistently deliver at top level. That leaves Fabinho & Thiago who do deliver top performances and work well together and Elliot who looks like a top player but probably won’t play all the time given his age and inexperience but will be a certain starter over next few seasons and then Carvalho who is on a similar position to Elliot. So despite all those names the reality is the midfield squad not as strong as defence or attack and coukd do with a signing
@Ger Power: true they are ageing but I think Thiago Fabinho Henderson is a better midfield than gini Fabinho Henderson in the title winning season. Again the injuries skewer thoughts I think. You’d never think we’d miss 4 midfielders at the same time like we did centre half’s a few seasons ago . We buy someone for big money now that means someone on big money is sitting on the bench in 6 weeks kicking the heels. I don’t think it’s as easy as just go out and sign someone. If your talking a de jong or Bellingham fair enough. Dunno how I feel about some of the 30/40 million players been mentioned.
@Darren Fitzpatrick: this business should have been done in the summer it’s not like Liverpool didn’t know we had an aging and injury prone midfield and the extended squad members are just not up to it Elliot aside. Now because of FSGs tightfistedness we are either going to get a stop gap midfielder who isn’t up to it like the cb crisis back 2 seasons ago or we will end up paying massively over the odds for the likes of Tielemans or DeJong because clubs know they have pool over a deadline barrell. Someone should explain the old adage to John Henry pennywise, poundfoolish when it comes to premier league transfers
Utd have Fred available since getting Casimiro. Be an upgrade on what the Scouse have there at the moment by the looks of the state of that midfield after the Utd game.