Pep Lijnders has outlined what type of players Liverpool look to sign and has praised the club’s recruitment team after what has been yet another successful transfer window.
Despite the club still being able to sign and sell players until 11pm on September 1st, it’s believed that Jurgen Klopp is now content with the incomings at Anfield this summer.
Fabio Carvalho, Darwin Nunez and Calvin Ramsay are the three arrivals on Merseyside during the current window and despite many Reds supporters calling for the club to sign a new midfielder, that area will only be strengthened if the right player comes available at the right price.
Lijnders has revealed that the club will will only sign a player if the coaching staff and the recruitment team believe they’re good enough for the starting XI.
“When we want to sign someone, we sign them for the first 11,” he said (as quoted by the Liverpool Echo).
“That doesn’t mean we only have 11 players. It means that you want players who you feel can play and make a difference in the big games.
“The question always lies in are you fighting to become a champion? Or are you fighting for the top four? Are you fighting for the Champions League? Or are you fighting for the League Cup? That is a big, big difference and people underestimate it.
“So in this way, the team needs consistency that we have created over the last year. What I want to get to is the signings that you make, you have to have this immediate impact basically. That is not easy, that means there is a lot of work. That is why we are so happy with our scouting department and our sporting director. We really tried to sign the players who can make the difference.”
The new campaign acts as somewhat of a transition period for Liverpool.
With Nunez, Klopp will now be able to operate with an out-and-out striker for the first time in a long while after becoming accustomed to operating with Bobby Firmino in the false-nine role for so many years.
Luis Diaz, who was signed from Porto in January and hit the ground running for the club, will benefit from having a full pre-season under his belt with the Merseysiders.
Sadio Mane, a player that was vitally import to the success that the Reds have tasted in recent seasons, has also exited the club for Bayern Munich this summer meaning the famous front three of Mane, Firmino and Mo Salah has now been dismantled.
Lijnders reflected back on when Liverpool signed the Senegal star from Southampton back in 2016 and how he and the other coaches knew he’d be a success at the club.
“I remember the process of signing Sadio, watching different players, doing background checks, watching him on the big screen in our coaches’ room and us all saying yes,” he added.
“But I think in life it is really important that you don’t look to the past. You can speak a lot about what you had but it is much more important what you want. We feel that with our squad, and especially our front players, we are ready to compete.
“The individual player will always influence a team in a certain way. For example, Luis Diaz gives us much more, not more than Sadio, but gives them something to pose on the outside. He will dribble and that gives players in the centre something for them to [attack].
“So when we play with Bobby (Roberto Firmino), it’s much more from the outside. So Luis gives a different vibe but so does Darwin. We know what we want and where we want to go, it’s about time because time creates relationships in football and that’s the most important thing that we have real connections with our players and in that time we will give everyone who is new.
“That is what we have always done. I am really grateful that we have signed these two players, Fabio and Ibou (Ibrahima Konate). I really like how we are recruiting. That is what we want.”
It’s great to see that we appear to have everything under control both on and off the pitch.
The club is in a really good place at the moment and hopefully that we can be reflected with even more silverware this season.