Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp spoke at length about his summer transfer plans ahead of facing Crystal Palace. This is what it should mean for the Reds at Anfield.
Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp are more than aware that a big summer of transfer activity lies ahead, and the Reds boss has not hidden from that fact in recent weeks.
It was clear to most that Liverpool needed a midfielder last summer, but when Aurélien Tchouaméni was not in favor of moving to Anfield and instead chose Real Madrid, they opted to wait a year.
In fairness, few would have predicted the extent of the decline, even if starting the midfield revamp would have been sensible earlier on in order to prevent all of that work from needing to be done in one go.
But Klopp, speaking ahead of the game with Crystal Palace, has made clear his intentions at the end of the season, whether or not his side manages to squeeze into the top four spots.
“I always have the same say [in transfers],” Klopp said, via the ECHO. “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. Has the way we identify players changed? No. It is exactly the same.
“It’s not helpful [if we don’t get Champions League]. Money always has an impact. But this cannot be that much of an impact, let me say it like this. Of course, it is influential, but this is a summer where we have to be in the market, definitely.
“I am sorry that 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.”
Liverpool certainly has to be in the market for new players, with several stars out of contract and a major rejuvenation of the team necessary to restore them to their previous high levels.
“We built a stand and a training ground and the club is in a really good place, but around us, a few people are speeding up a little bit and you cannot ignore that,” Klopp continued, presumably referencing the likes of Newcastle United, whose spending power will only increase in the coming years.
“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.”
What does that mean ahead of the summer, though? These are the four things that Liverpool.com believes will ‘definitely’ happen, with it clear that the Reds are aware of the investment that needs to arrive.
Biggest FSG investment
There needs to change among the Liverpool squad and with players leaving at the end of their contracts, that means investing money without getting much coming in the other way.
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. (Image: Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)
That also means a change in approach for FSG. The biggest summer of spending for Liverpool came when they signed Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keïta in 2018, six months after signing Virgil van Dijk.
A similar level of investment is required now, but this time without having Philippe Coutinho’s inflated transfer move to Barcelona there to significantly fund those deals.
Midfield revamp
There is no doubt that the first area of concern for Liverpool is in midfield, and they need to bring in more than just Jude Bellingham in order to fix the issue, such is the extent of the problem.
Klopp spoke in his press conference about not being able to sign more players last summer because of not knowing who wanted to leave, but that is no excuse this time around: Keïta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, among others, are set to depart at the end of their deals.
Both of those two will need to be replaced with better and more reliable options. James Milner could also depart and Arthur Melo, even though he has not played so won’t necessarily need replacing, will no longer be there.
High-profile exits
Between them, Keïta and Oxlade-Chamberlain cost Liverpool a combined $104m (£87m/€98m) in transfer fees. Both will now leave for nothing.
Other big-name exits cannot be ruled out either. Fabinho’s wife took to social media earlier in the week to dismiss claims that the Brazilian could leave Liverpool, but moves like that cannot be completely discounted.
Amid the shake-up, players like Fabinho have not done enough this season to make their futures certain, even if selling them would only further add to the Liverpool to-do list.
Nothing is enough
Whatever Liverpool does in the market, there will be arguments about what more should have been done. Will they sign a center-back? Even if they do, there is an argument for doing two.
Could they sign two midfielders? There would then be questions about why they didn’t do three or four. Then if Roberto Firmino leaves, will he be replaced, or was that why Cody Gakpo arrived in January?
Plenty needs doing, but quite what would constitute enough will depend on a variety of factors that are yet to be determined. Taking steps to work those things out over the course of the next few weeks and months will be vital.
