Jurgen Klopp says this summer’s transfer plans are about buying players that fit his mentality and ethos rather than spending big money, necessarily.
So far during his seven month tenure, the German’s used a squad inherited from Brendan Rodgers – and led them to two cup finals already.
A win in this evening’s Europa League Final against Sevilla would guarantee the Champions League spot our Premier League finish made impossible, but Klopp says this will have no relevance in persuading players to join.
“Since I said what I’d do if I player said to me he would only come if we have Champions League (put the phone down), no player had said it to me!” Klopp told the ECHO.
“Hopefully we will never talk about the money around signings.
“Not because it’s not a big number or something but because if we take a player it’s because we believe he fits what we need, not because he’s expensive or he’s cheap.
“Our owners are completely behind that and it’s really cool.
“Nobody has said to me that if we’re not in the Champions League that affects things.
“If you aren’t in Europe at all then maybe you need less players but that’s not something to think about now.”
Liverpool have already signed Schalke’s Joel Matip and Red Star Belgrade’s Marko Grujic ahead of next season, while likely moves for Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski and German keeper Loris Karius have been lined up (via Daily Star).
The big potential arrival, of course, is Mario Gotze of Bayern Munich. A £20m deal is being lined up, reported in the original Echo article, and would represent an enormous coup for the club.
It’s interesting to see that Klopp intimates he’ll sign less players should we fail to qualify for European competition next term. When everyone’s fit (they rarely have been), we actually have a fairly large squad. Danny Ings and Joe Gomez will also come back into contention, which for Klopp will be like two new signings – having not been able to call upon during his stewardship – bar an Ings cameo last weekend.