Klopp insists he must boost Liverpool squad

Jurgen Klopp need look only along the touchline at Antonio Conte today to see how a muddled transfer strategy can force a manager’s good work to unravel.

Win or lose against Real Madrid in the Champions League final, Klopp’s second full season in charge of Liverpool has largely been a success, with all his new signings from the past 12 months proving money well spent.

Mohamed Salah has taken the headlines, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk have all played major roles during the Reds’ path to Kiev.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have failed to build on winning the Premier League last term, with Conte not afraid of airing his frustrations at the club’s failure to acquire his top targets.

Instead, Chelsea now find themselves in a fight to merely qualify for next season’s Champions League, and anything less than a win against Liverpool today would all but ensure they can no longer catch their visitors from Merseyside.

With that in mind, Klopp is not about to rest on his laurels when it comes to adding more new faces to his already talented roster. “We have to strengthen the squad,” he said. “Finding players that will improve the squad 200 per cent will be difficult, but we have to make the squad bigger.

“We want a couple of players, but are only looking for good ones. The players we bring in, we will all be 100 per cent convinced about.”

A creative midfielder is high on Klopp’s shopping list as he looks for a permanent replacement for Philippe Coutinho following the Brazilian’s move to Barcelona in January.

Liverpool have previously shown an interest in Monaco’s Thomas Lemar and could move again for the France international, while Naby Keita has already agreed to join the club from RB Leipzig in a deal worth in excess of £50 million.