Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool will not use money as an “excuse” in the transfer window, despite the growing influence and cash flow of Chelsea and Saudi Arabia.
The big stories this week have centered on Liverpool losing out to Chelsea in deals for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, who have both. selection to join the London club.
The Reds responded by signing Wataru Endo, but that, in many quarters, has only fueled the fire when it comes to the club’s pulling power, something Klopp has rejected.
Klopp always gets good answers to questions during his press conferences and Friday was no different after being asked if the club was struggling to attract players this summer.
“I’m not sure it has anything to do with Liverpool, actually. Harder to impress? No,” insisted Klopp.
“Everything is harder, everything. There are reasons, you know them all. You may have already written about it, these stories are not what I will tell about it.
“But it’s very difficult, there are many things that are different since last year.”
In a nod to Chelsea’s endless transfer business, Klopp continued: “Other clubs have a different way of doing it and nobody understands 100 percent how it works.
“As a normal club, it’s very difficult to catch up with them. We just watch what they do and it’s fine, it’s not my problem. I don’t blame anyone, it is what it is.”
Klopp also pointed to Saudi Arabia’s growing power to throw “endless money” at players making life “more difficult,” but that played no role in convincing a target to move to Anfield.
“Saudi Arabia on top of that will not make things easy. Our window ends on August 31st [note: it’s September 1] and their window is still open for players who are unhappy, they will come back.
“It’s good if another league grows, it’s football, it’s good. We don’t have the right to say it’s not allowed, China has already tried, USA might still be trying. No problem.
“But endless money causes problems, that’s it. We are sitting here and [think] ‘what can we do now’. It would be great if someone could find a solution, just regulations – I don’t know.
“Yes, it has become more difficult, but not to convince players to go to Liverpool,” he continued.
“One-hundred percent, if I would have called a million players, they would have come here immediately. We just have to make sure you go right, our timing is different than other timings.
“We don’t just spend money and see later, that’s it. It’s fine.
“I’m sitting here and I’m very happy with the transfer window this time, our transfer window.
“I know what happened last week, I know what football fans are like, and I know they want to bring a player for £110 million or £150 million, and that can be done in your club.
“That’s great but in the end, the pitch is the same size, the player doesn’t grow with the money he spends, it’s the other way around.
“I’m very happy at the moment. We keep looking, we keep looking.
“We will try everything we have to make the best decisions for this club and we will not use money or anything as an excuse for a second. We will just go for it with everything we have. That’s that’s the idea.
“We’re doing it our way, we’re here and we’re ready to fight.”