Jurgen Klopp believes his current Liverpool squad is the strongest he has assembled yet at Anfield and has told Sky Sports that Luis Diaz’s arrival made it the side he ‘always wanted’.
The Reds raided Porto in the winter sales to improve Klopp’s frontline with a deal for Diaz. They paid an initial £37.5m for the Colombian, rising £12.5m with add-ons, as he penned a five-and-a-half-year contract on Merseyside. And the 25-year-old has been an instant hit.
Klopp has already awarded Diaz minutes in 10 matches in all competitions, plus five starts in five Premier League games. The forward returned the German’s faith by scoring a brave goal at Brighton on Saturday, beating Robert Sanchez as he rushed out of the Seagulls net.
Diaz’s impressive start under Klopp is keeping Diogo Jota out of the Liverpool line-up after his recent ankle injury. The Portuguese had been in stunning form prior to the blow. Only Mohamed Salah (20) has scored more league goals than he, plus Sadio Mane (12), so far.
Jurgen Klopp feels Luis Diaz arrival gave Liverpool the squad he ‘always wanted’
With Diaz the only new arrival at Anfield in January, Klopp believes he now has the squad he always wanted Liverpool to boast this season. Instead, the real difference he notes on Merseyside from last summer is that his players are now fit to play after several injuries.
“Of course, it is,” Klopp said. “Funnily enough, apart from Luis, it is the same squad that we had when we started the season. We had this strong squad, they were just unavailable. Now, they are available. That makes it the squad that we always wanted to have.”
Ahead of Liverpool visiting Arsenal on Wednesday, Klopp has given 27 players minutes in the Premier League this season. Alisson and Virgil van Dijk have featured the most (2,340), while 18 players have played at least 10 games.
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