Jurgen Klopp has warned cannot afford to be left behind this summer as he highlighted the danger the recruitment of their rivals represents.
Liverpool are in transition and the scrutiny on them has been intensified after they were skewered by ,
With domestic form erratic, there is no guarantee they will be in that competition next season.
Klopp knew a bump in the road was coming and that is why .
Circumstances meant he could not make a significant overhaul in the close season but he wants to change that in the next window.
Jurgen Klopp said he is worried by Liverpool’s big-spending rivals ahead of a summer rebuild
Liverpool are in transition and the scrutiny on them has been intensified after they were thrashed 5-2 by Real Madrid, which left them on the brink of Champions League elimination
‘I have nothing to do with that. So I think we’ve played five years in a row in the Champions League, which is massive and we went to the final three times in that time, “http://mojarov.ru/ which is massive from a money point of view. We built a stand and a training ground and the club is in a really good place.
The landscape has changed, with the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Newcastle all set to spend heavily and Klopp has explained this to Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group, emphasising the need to be similarly aggressive. Jude Bellingham is the top target but more additions are needed.
‘My job is to make it 100 per cent clear what we need from a sports point of view and then other people are responsible for giving us the resources,’ said Klopp, insisting that changes behind the scenes – such as Sporting Director Julian Ward leaving – have not altered the recruitment process.
‘But around us, a few people are speeding up a little bit and you cannot ignore that. You cannot ignore that. It’s still about bringing in the right players – it’s not about bringing in a lot.
‘It’s about the right player. And thank God in the world of football there are a lot of right players.
‘Not all of them are affordable, or want to come but there are a lot of really good players out there. That is it.
‘The only reason I don’t like to talk too much about it now is because there are a lot of games to play. This (current) team is the basis for what we do and it always was the basis.
‘I always have the same say. I cannot decide, at all, about money. Not about one penny. It is always the same. The old-school managers maybe had a budget and could work like this, it is not that way.’
John W Henry, Liverpool’s main owner, said he was ‘optimistic’ he would find fresh investment
John W Henry, Liverpool’s principle owner, said this week was “optimistic” that he would find fresh investment, having stressed during an interview with the Boston Sports Journal that the club was not for sale.
‘I am optimistic when he is optimistic because it is his business,’ said Klopp, whose team face Crystal Palace on Saturday night.
‘I am not involved in the search for investors. Not yet! That would be funny! I can be, by the way, I did that at Dortmund once!’
If Liverpool do not finish in the top four, they will be vulnerable if it comes to pursuing players such as Bellingham but Klopp does not believe there will be too much of a financial compromise if they end up outside the main places for the first time since 2016.
‘It’s not helpful (if we don’t get into the Champions League) as money always has an impact,’ said Klopp.
Bellingham is their top summer target and Klopp urged the Reds to be aggressive in the market
‘But this cannot be that much of an impact, let me say it like this. But of course it is influential but this is a summer where we have to be in the market, definitely.
‘I’m sorry we cannot guarantee the Champions League at this moment but it’s not done yet, we will fight for it, so we don’t have to talk about it as though it is not possible.
‘But it is tricky and difficult and if [we qualify], it will be a late decision, I guess.
‘We have to start doing work earlier than before we know where we will end up position-wise so these things are clear here.
‘Now you know what we will do, not exactly, but what we will do. From now on we can talk about the wonderful football we play, when we play it.’