Liverpool

Liverpool

Premier League • England

Klopp fires back at Liverpool transfer complaint after admitting midfield situation has changed

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool’s injury issues have changed the situation, and doubled down on his plans for a new midfielder.

The Reds began the season with a disappointing 2-2 draw at Fulham. Midfielders Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both missed the contest through injury, while Naby Keita was absent through illness.

Their early-season woes were exacerbated when midfield talisman Thiago Alcantara limped off with a hamstring issue. The Spaniard is expected to miss four to six weeks of action.

Liverpool fans have been calling for a new midfielder all throughout the summer. Those voices grew louder once the injuries began to mount up.

However, Klopp and Liverpool have repeatedly gone on record to state their business from an arrivals perspective this summer is done.

Now, speaking to Sky Sports, Klopp did admit Liverpool’s situation has changed due to the injury problems.

However, he doubled down when stating the Reds will not panic buy to cover a temporary shortfall and will only buy the “right” midfielder.

Liverpool transfer inaction explained

“It’s easy for us to bring a midfielder in, it’s not so easy to bring the right midfielder in – for money reasons and contractual reasons,” Klopp told Sky’s Emma Saunders. “Most of the time they go hand in hand.

“It’s not that we deny signing a player if they have a problem with injuries.

“It’s a different season to the beginning of the pre-season, when everybody told me we needed a new midfielder – it was about the kind of midfielder. And it’s a completely different discussion – we didn’t need a new kind of midfielder.

“But if the right midfielder would have been available, we would have gone there as well. Now the situation [with injuries] changed slightly, that’s true. But it can only be about the right midfielder, that’s not easy.

“It’s because it’s 2022 and people have contracts for four, five six years – and that’s why we have to be calm and solve the problems with the boys we have.”

Klopp comments hinting at Bellingham?

Clearly, Liverpool do not believe the right addition is available this summer. That will heighten anticipation over next season’s summer window, and at that point, Jude Bellingham may be available.

Klopp is a known admirer of the Borussia Dortmund and England ace, though is not alone in that regard.

The likes of Man Utd and Real Madrid are expected to challenge for his signature next year. So too will Liverpool.

Dortmund value the 19-year-old around the £100m mark and given how accomplished he is at such a young age, it’s easy to see why.

A move this summer would have sent Liverpool fans into raptures. However, Dortmund have let suitors know he is not for sale just yet.

Dortmund’s model relies on selling their top stars, though only on their terms and only one at a time.

They resisted all attempts to sell Erling Haaland last summer to ensure they didn’t lose both he and Jadon Sancho in the same window.

Haaland eventually moved 12 months later and that has guaranteed Bellingham won’t be on the move this window.

Other targets including Matheus Nunes have repeatedly drawn links, though all eyes will be on Bellingham this time next year. Few would argue he doesn’t fall under the category of the “right” midfielder Klopp seeks.