Transfer committee… What transfer committee?!
It’s not easy to choose which players to sign. No matter how much scouting, research, and discussion takes place, there is always going to be a small element of luck.
Who honestly thought Suarez would become one of the top three players in the world when he signed? Or that Sami Hyypia would become a club legend? Or that Alberto Aquilani would fail so spectacularly?
In a recent interview, Klopp has tried to shine a light on how he decides which players to sign.
When asked if signed players he “liked”, the German revealed he always looked at football skills and ability ahead of everything else.
“Like in a specific way of course, they have to fit in a team, that’s how it is,” he said.
“We are so often, so long in the day together, it’s based on sense, you always think ‘oh my god what a footballer but please’. First of all it’s all about football skills, abilities, but it’s very complex. But at the end you have to accept you can never do what everybody wants, I learned that pretty quickly” (Echo)
To be fair, Klopp has been great in the transfer market so far. Almost all the summer signings look hugely promising – and Manninger was only ever bought as a backup, it’s not really fair to judge him until we see him in action.