KLOPP WON’T PANIC BUY
Kop boss playing waiting game
LIVERPOOL are prepared to play a waiting game to land Jurgen Klopp’s transfer targets after the German told the club that quality must come before quantity.
Klopp has been handed a £200million transfer kitty this summer after taking the Reds back into the Champions League, but his only recruits so far have been £36.9m Mohamed Salah from Roma and Chelsea’s out-of-contract youngster Dominic Solanke. A proposed £60m swoop for Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk collapsed when the Saints made a complaint to the Premier League. And German club Red Bull Leipzig have warned that midfielder Naby Keita will not be sold at any price. Yet Liverpool are refusing to panic as Klopp prepares to welcome his squad back for pre-season training. “Jurgen is happy with how our transfer business is being conducted,” said a high-level Anfield insider. “This summer was always going to be about quality rather than quality and the manager understands that landing the kind of players he wants was always going to be about being patient. “There is no sense of worry or panic. “This window is about bringing in players who are better than the ones who are already here.” Van Dijk is understood to be devastated by the prospect of seeing his dream move to Anfield collapse and is refusing to speak to the media as he contemplates his next step.
Everton boss Ronaldo Koeman is a big admirer of the defender – and they share the same agent – but the Dutchman believes Van Dijk is so set on a move to Liverpool that he is reluctant to lodge a bid with Southampton and risk losing out on the player.
Liverpool have backed off from Van Dijk but will revive their interest if the centre-back’s “circumstances change”. The feeling in Holland is that the 25-year-old is deciding whether to lodge an official transfer request.
Liverpool’s pursuit of Keita is similarly complex.
The 22-year-old has made it clear to the Bundesliga club that he wants to move to Anfield. However, Leipzig sporting director Ralf Rangnick, a close friend of Klopp’s, is adamant that a deal will not be struck at any price.
Once again, it will be left to the player to force the issue.
Keita made his feelings clear at a meeting with Rangnick last week.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are themselves refusing to listen to offers for Philippe Coutinho (above) after reports from France that Paris St Germain are preparing an £80m bid for the Brazilian.
Barcelona were given the same response earlier in the summer when they made an enquiry.
And Klopp is so adamant that the playmaker is not for sale that he has told the club not to put a price on Coutinho’s head.