REDS IN NEED OF GERMAN ENGINEERING
Liverpool’s squad shortcomings were exposed in Kiev but Klopp is deep into a plan for a summer rebuild of quality & experience
IN his fascinating interview with Robbie Fowler last week, Jurgen Klopp quietly laid out his summer transfer plans.
He said: “We brought in Naby Keita already, an outstanding player. We will bring in a couple more.
“In the squad we need more quality. But that is not to get rid of players... you have to mix it up a little bit.”
That tells you Liverpool have learned from the past, that even before last weekend, the planning was at an advanced stage, and would not be a knee-jerk reaction to either final failure, or World Cup wonder.
The announcement of the deal to sign Brazil defensive midfielder Fabinho confirms it. Liverpool have struck hard in the summer market, and have struck early. And they will strike again too.
It is a stark contrast to 2007 and the pain of another Champions League final defeat. The morning after that night in Athens, Rafa Benitez launched an astonishing attack on his club’s owners, for failing to plan.
Far from revelling in his incredible achievement, taking the Reds to two finals in three years, he said it spelt doom.
“I feel tired and disappointed – we are in the same situation as two years ago,” said Benitez. “We must spend big now. If you wait until August, you end up getting your third or fourth choice.”
The Hicks and Gillett comedy duo that then ran the club did deliver Fernando Torres – though not with their own money – but forced the manager to accept secondrate signings, like Andriy Voronin and Sebastian Leto.
This time, it will be a more seamless progression – evolution, not revolution. “You cannot be three years and be number 14, 15, 16 at Liverpool, that doesn’t work. So you need to freshen up,” Klopp said.
Keita, of course, has already been signed, and will be a key addition. He will provide some of the steel Liverpool perhaps lacked in Kiev. So too will Fabinho.
That final also confirmed what Klopp already knew. His squad needs more quality in depth, more resources and alternatives. Losing Emre Can was a blow, but Klopp had targeted the holding role as a position he wanted more depth in last summer, when he made his first approach for Fabinho. He needs that urgently in other areas too.
Real had Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio as back-up to Ronaldo, Liverpool had no like-for-like replacement when Salah went off.
The likely signing of Nabil Fekir from Lyon will address that to a certain extent. Like Philippe Coutinho, who he will replace, Fekir can play wide of a three, or in the No.10 role. He can even play Roberto Firmino’s ‘false-nine’ position.
Christian Pulisic is an interesting option too in those positions, and don’t be surprised if Klopp goes back to Dortmund with another bid this summer.
The Reds were always going to sign a keeper in the summer. Now, though, it is obvious they must upgrade from someone to rival Loris Karius to someone to replace the German as No.1.
But the options are limited in signing a keeper. Liverpool still have doubts about the consistency of Roma’s Alisson.
They have also tried and failed several times to tempt Timo Horn from Cologne.
There is also interest in Southampton’s Alex McCarthy, but the relationship between the two clubs has not been healthy for some time.
Jan Oblak would solve the problem, but his buy-out clause with Atletico Madrid is prohibitive.
Liverpool’s transfer gurus have a big job to do there.
But considering their last five signings have been Mane, Salah, Robertson, OxladeChamberlain and Van Dijk, Klopp will trust them to get it right, and progress the team forward once again.