Liverpool manager says the club do not need to replace Philippe Coutinho.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted the club do not have to buy a replacement for Philippe Coutinho.
The Reds sold Coutinho to Barcelona in January and have so far reinvested the money elsewhere, signing a new goalkeeper (Alisson), a centre-back (Virgil van Dijk) and a defensive midfielder (Fabinho).
The Reds have also signed Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri, but they are missing a marquee attacking name.
Perhaps that is just being greedy, but another exciting attacker could be the difference between winning silverware or not next season.
Liverpool reportedly bid £52 million for Nabil Fekir earlier this summer, BBC Sport reported, but that move appears to have hit a brick wall, with just nine days left of the transfer window.
Jurgen Klopp’s latest comments could have been a nod to the club giving up on Fekir.
He told SkySports: “I don’t want to put one of my players in the position where people will now say constantly ‘he’s the Phil replacement’.
“We don’t need to replace Phil. We need to make a squad for the next year. Out there on the market, there isn’t a Phil Coutinho light. It’s not there. But there are a lot of good players and we have brought a few of them in.”
Klopp’s comments about not wanting to put pressure on one of his signings are sensible, but his comments about not needing to replace the Brazilian have raised eyebrows, especially as they did try to sign attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir earlier in the transfer window.
Here is a look at how some Liverpool fans reacted to Klopp’s comments…
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