Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool have “not the biggest squad in the world” going into the new campaign – but has explained prioritising quality over quantity during the current transfer window. The Reds are still in the market for a defensive midfielder and, having had three bids rejected for Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, had a £110m offer for Moises Caicedo accepted by Brighton in the early hours of Friday, with the onus now on Chelsea – who have been negotiating to sign the Ecuador international for several weeks and seemingly remain his preferred destination – to at least match the bid. And Klopp wants to give further opportunities in midfield to youngsters Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic this season while admitting the lack of Champions League qualification has hampered recruitment efforts.
Jurgen Klopp said: “Look, the situation for us was we knew who will leave (at the end of last season). Oxlade, Naby, Milly from a specific point was clear. Arthur (Melo, who was on a season-long loan) was clear and on top of that Fab and Hendo. Four were more or less planned and two were like ‘ooofff…’ but it is fine. It is fine. A player with a big role who did not play the whole of last season is Curtis Jones, a player who had good spells and a good pre-season is Harvey Elliott. That is where we are coming from. They have to step up. On top of that we brought in Macca and Dom – you saw it, really good players, like really good players, speed, everything you want to have. Speed in mind or speed in legs or both. Technique, passing, overview. Everything is there. We cannot go through it and say we missed here and there. It is not the biggest squad in the world, that is true, but we had to make a decision in our situation. Do we go for quantity or quality? The only chance we really had was to go for quality and then we have to stretch things. We don’t play in the Champions League and nobody wants to hear it but for a club like Liverpool it is a massive blow. It is not cool. In the world we are living in, with teams with endless resources, no-one wants to hear that either but they have and have different circumstances (to Liverpool). They go for it and we sit there and try to catch up in a good football way but, anyway, it is not that we call our owners and say ‘I am calling because we have found another £200m (worth of players)’. That doesn’t happen. That is why we decided for this way. I am really happy. Yes we need this, it would be really great if we can bring him (Caicedo) in. Stefan is now back, we should not forget this. When he played he was exceptional. Everyone will say ‘but he is 18’.”
Regardless of whether Caicedo ends up at Liverpool or not, that the Reds are willing to commit to such an outlay underlines Fenway Sports Group have given Klopp and his recruitment team a sizeable transfer kitty this summer. And speaking early on Friday about the Caicedo deal,
Jurgen Klopp said: “I would love to talk about it. If someone tells me it is done and dusted then I would talk about everything but we don’t know. We just don’t know. The deal is agreed is one thing, but so many things in this crazy world can happen. But if our owners really stretch it then that is a super massive commitment. We will see.”
