Klopp ridicules bizarre Ince claims saying Liverpool should target Bale

Jurgen Klopp has laughed off claims suggesting Liverpool should move for Gareth Bale this summer.

Bale’s future at Real Madrid is very much under the spotlight again, with the player apparently nearing the Bernabeu exit door – and with a war of words between Los Blancos coach Zinedine Zidane and Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett grabbing the headlines.

And while Bale has been tipped to move to either Bayern Munich or Inter Milan, it is a lucrative move to China – amid claims he could earn around £1m a week after tax – which is looking most likely.

However, former Liverpool midfielder Paul Ince suggested earlier this week that Liverpool should be in for the Welshman, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “My opinion is if Liverpool can afford him, he should go there.

“Liverpool’s front three haven’t had much rest before the season – Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane have played all over the summer.

“Bale can play right, left or central. If I was looking at a team if they could afford him, it would be Liverpool. He needs to reinvent himself as a player and play football week in, week out.

“He would have to take a massive wage drop. It can’t be about money for Bale. He has to go to a team who can win things. Liverpool are European champions and they want to make a massive challenge in the league again.”

However, Klopp admits he is slightly bemused by the suggestion, saying of Ince’s comments: “I don’t know why these fantastic football players have such strange ideas.

“Bale is a player of Real Madrid and if he leaves he will be outstandingly expensive, big wages, all that stuff.

“He is a really outstanding player, I like him a lot. He won the Champions League final pretty much alone two years ago.

“I don’t know what has happened but it is not just about him, it is about all these players.

“We have to create a team, a team is not a collection of individual players and then in the end you have the best.

“They have to work together, fit with each other and that is what we are working for, not going for these huge individual players.”

Klopp, meanwhile, has discussed Manchester United’s interest in Bruno Fernandes after getting a look at him in close quarters on Wednesday evening – and admits he likes what he sees.

 

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