Jürgen Klopp has been speaking to the media after Bournemouth harshly sacked Scott Parker, where he made a comment about Arsenal.
What’s the story?
Well, the German was critical of Maxim Demin for dismissing the 41-year-old, mentioning how some clubs are owned by countries and lack sensible people in charge.
That is where Klopp mentioned Arsenal, as he said Liverpool and the Gunners have a “structure” rather than just mindlessly spending money on a yearly basis.
ESPN quote the 55-year-old as saying: “When I heard (the news) today I realised how important it is in this moment to have the right owners at the football club. Some clubs are owned by countries but others have a structure like us and maybe Arsenal. I felt for Scott.”
Arsenal fans will be pleased to hear that, as it suggests Klopp thinks highly of how they are operating under Stan Kroenke, and is impressed by the project being undertaken by Mikel Arteta.
That isn’t to say that the north Londoners haven’t spent money – they have, and a lot of it.
However, where the likes of Chelsea are being utterly careless in the market, Arsenal have been shrewd.
For example, the Blues spent £71m on Kai Havertz, only to splash £98m on Romelu Lukaku to compete with him before then loaning the Belgian to Inter Milan after just one season.
The £58m signing of Christian Pulisic – a player yet to start this season – was also bizarre.
Chelsea often sign players who do not even fit their style, whereas Arteta has added to his squad smartly with the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Martin Ødegaard, who all fit into Arsenal’s ethos.
Jürgen Klopp must envy Arsenal
Despite Liverpool winning plenty of silverware under Klopp, the German must surely envy how much Arteta gets to spend while Fenway Sports Group (FSG) continue to keep a tight grip on the pursestrings at Anfield.
The Liverpool boss even admitted he would like to see FSG take a “risk” in the market more often, although he accepts the way they operate.
According to the Express, Arteta has spent almost £350m since replacing Unai Emery in December 2019 without making any major sales.
Since replacing Brendan Rodgers in October 2015, Klopp has a net spend of just £433m – when you take into account the time difference, that speaks volumes.
In our view, Liverpool could have done so much more under the German if FSG had spent a bit more, and there is surely a bit of envy from Klopp towards Arteta as a result of Arsenal’s spending.
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