Jurgen Klopp refused to ‘kill the excitement’ of Liverpool fans hoping for incoming activity on transfer deadline day.
The Reds are expected to finalise the signing of Ryan Gravenberch upon completion of his medical, and the manager hasn’t totally ruled out the possibility of further arrivals before tonight’s 11pm deadline.
When asked during this morning’s press conference if the Dutch midfielder would be the only new arrival at Anfield today (via Liverpool FC on YouTube), the 56-year-old replied: “It’s deadline day so I don’t want to kill the excitement of the people. You never know, but I’m busy today with other things.”
Klopp was then asked if the defence would be the part of the squad he next looks to strengthen, given the unavailability of Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk for Sunday’s clash against Aston Villa, to which he responded: “If we could bring in a centre-half for a weekend I’d think about it!”
The manager’s refusal to write off the chances of more than one signing being secured today echo comments made by Liverpool Echo journalist Ian Doyle on Thursday and will duly keep Reds fans on tenterhooks throughout the final hours of the transfer window.
With Gravenberch set to be the fourth midfield addition of the summer, the defence could well be the focus of any further activity between now and 11pm.
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Injuries to Konate and Conor Bradley have lessened Klopp’s options at the back, while Joel Matip and Joe Gomez – the likely central defensive pairing on Sunday – have both had their share of injury problems while at Anfield.
Names such as Arthur Theate and Piero Hincapie had surfaced as potential targets in recent days, although links to those two subsequently appear to have gone quiet.
It’s pleasing to hear the manager leaving the door open for the possibility of more than one signing today, even if the window of opportunity for Liverpool to strengthen their squad is now extremely narrow. Let’s see if there are any exciting 11th-hour developments!
You can see Klopp’s answer in full below (from 4:26), via Liverpool FC on YouTube: