Klopp is just a hypocrite
Mourinho’s jibe over £75m Van Dijk fee
JOSE MOURINHO has accused Jurgen Klopp of hypocrisy over Liverpool’s £75million signing of Virgil van Dijk. When Manchester United were pursuing a then world record £89m deal for Paul Pogba last year, Klopp claimed that he would rather walk away from football than pay so much for one player.
Mourinho believes the Anfield boss has contradicted himself by agreeing to make Van Dijk the most expensive defender in history when he joins Liverpool from Southampton next week.
‘I think the one to speak about it in a specific way has to be Jurgen,’ said Mourinho. ‘If I was one of you, I would ask him about his comments of one year ago.
‘This was the feeling that Jurgen had when he arrived at Liverpool. He trusted a lot his quality as a good coach, which he is. He trusted a lot his work.
‘I think now he realises that is not enough. To be the champion, to win the Champions League, to win trophies, he needs more.
‘With Naby Keita (from RB Leipzig) they already did that for next summer, and Virgil van Dijk who can also play in the Champions League, Liverpool realise they have to go to the crazy levels of the market.’
Mourinho realises it, too and has warned that he will struggle to close the gap on Manchester City without the spending power of his great rival Pep Guardiola.
With City 15 points ahead and racing away with the Premier League title, Mourinho pointed to the £175m they have spent on two new goalkeepers and three full-backs as an example of Guardiola’s advantage.
‘Pep arrived, he had the goalkeeper of England (Joe Hart) and he doesn’t like,’ said the United manager.
‘He buys the goalkeeper of Barcelona (Claudio Bravo), he doesn’t like him. He buys another one (Ederson Moraes) and now he likes him.
‘He had (Pablo) Zabaleta and (Aleksandar) Kolarov, two very good players but more than 30-years-old. He doesn’t replace with two, he replaces with three.
‘One from Tottenham (Kyle Walker), one from Monaco (Benjamin Mendy), one from Real Madrid (Danilo), as an example.
‘Can we buy six or seven players at the same time? Can we invest £600-£700 million? No — so, it’s difficult.
‘I remember my first period at Chelsea where everyone was saying money was making the difference. I don’t think it’s changed. I think money makes a difference.’
Mourinho acknowledged that he has been backed by United to the tune of £300m that includes £89m spent on Paul Pogba and £75m on Romelu Lukaku.
He was also at pains to point out that he is not being critical of the Old Trafford board.
However, observers of his coaching career will recognise the first signs of discord between the Portuguese and his employers.
Mourinho is understood to have had conversations about transfer strategy this week, and been unhappy at the outcome. He admitted yesterday that he is unlikely to make any signings in next month’s transfer window.
The 54-year-old is believed to be unsure about United’s ambition to get back to the top of English football as they struggle to keep pace with City and Guardiola on every level.
He added: ‘It wouldn’t be very fair of me to say the club didn’t support, didn’t want to help, doesn’t want to win. The club invested a lot of money.
‘The problem is not the money we invest, the problem is the money the others invest. It’s the problem that others with better squads, with better stability, with more options, they keep investing.
‘You think the club can buy six players for £100m each? I cannot expect the club to do that, so it’s not criticism. You can see how the market is, especially with the top teams.
‘The market is going in such a direction or you belong to one of these clubs where there is no limit and you buy what you want.
‘There is no limit, no FFP (Financial Fair Play), there is nothing. You do what you want or it’s hard.
‘For example, we bought a striker in the summer (Lukaku). But that good striker was to replace Zlatan (Ibrahimovic).
‘We signed Victor Lindelof, we didn’t have Marcos Rojo. So when we are signing players it’s to replace people. If we are going to sign a midfield player next summer, it will be to replace Michael Carrick. So to improve our squad in midfield, we would need to buy two.’
Mourinho believes United will still be able to challenge without huge investment, but admits it will take him longer to do it.
‘Yes, it’s possible,’ he added. ‘Sometimes if you don’t have that profile of club where there are no limits, and the only thing that matters is to get the best, even then there is only one way — which is patience and calm and time.
‘I think next season we are going to get two or three more players and also lose two or three.
‘It’s not going to happen that there is some dramatic improvement but, with time, step by step, with some balance, we have to do it.’