Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has talked to BBC Sport about his side’s decision not to make any big signings this summer.
The Reds deservedly won the league last season and rival clubs are strengthening heavily to dethrone the Premier League champions. Liverpool have only signed Kostas Tsimikas so far, while their reported priority target for this summer is Thiago Alcantara.
The Bayern Munich man is expected to cost in the region of £27 million, a fee Liverpool are reluctant to pay despite his heroics in the Champions League final last season (ESPN).
Even if Liverpool meet Bayern’s demands, they would have spent less than £50 million. That’s a small amount compared with the cash the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City are looking to spend this summer.
Klopp defended Liverpool’s transfer policy and aimed a dig at his potential title rivals, claiming the financial uncertainty isn’t as important to the big-spending clubs as it is to the Reds.
He said: “We live in a world at the moment with a lot of uncertainty. For some clubs it seems to be less important how uncertain the future is. Owned by countries, owned by oligarchs, that’s the truth.
“We’re a different kind of club. We got to the Champions League final two years ago, we won it last year and became Premier League champions. We cannot change it overnight and say, ‘so now we want to behave like Chelsea, now we want to behave like them.’”
Chelsea have spent a lot of money in this transfer window to bring in Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell. Manchester City have brought in Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake, with rumours floating around they could also bring in Kalidou Koulibaly for a mammoth fee (Di Marzio).
Liverpool have spent big in the past. Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and co weren’t cheap by any means but, since their spending spree before they won the Champions League, the Reds have been quiet in the transfer market compared with other clubs.
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