Our boss Jurgen Klopp is confident that the arrival of Joel Matip on a free transfer will save him millions of pounds in transfer fees (via Echo).
Matip will arrive at Melwood on 1st July, having agreed to sign for us on Bosman transfer from German side Schalke.
“It was an easy choice,” Klopp said. “He’s 24, he’s played around 200 Bundesliga games, he’s played Champions League, played Europa League and was a German Cup winner in 2011.
“He wanted a new challenge and he’s made big steps in his development in the last few years.
“He’s become a really experienced centre-half – tall at 1.98m, but flexible and quick. A perfect header of the ball, he scores four or five goals a season, and is good in the build-up.
“I know in England it is really difficult to sign a player without paying a transfer fee but I thought it cannot be a reason not to take him just because you cannot put a number behind his name.
“If you asked in Germany what other clubs would have paid for him had he still been under contract, you can just take that number.
“It’s clear there were a lot of other clubs interested. In Germany, for a player of his quality, who is out of contract, there is a lot of competition.
“Maybe Schalke aren’t too famous in England but in Germany they’re a big club who have played the last four or five years in the Champions League. They made him a big offer to stay, they wanted to keep him.
“There are probably only three or four clubs in Germany who could get a player like Matip when he is at Schalke – Dortmund, and that’s not possible, Bayern, maybe Leverkusen and maybe Wolfsburg. Finish.”
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“I don’t have a number [of players] in mind,” he said.
“We have to make solutions and we will make solutions. Also maybe players will make solutions and say they do not want to be here any more, so you have to be prepared.
“But seven really sounds a lot. We have enough strikers – five with Roberto (Firmino) – but not too many wingers, just a few young ones with great potential.
“We have to decide early and at the right moment on transfers, but it is about a squad where you can play different systems and react to different situations.”
Who would you like to see arrive in the summer? Let us know in the comments.