LIVERPOOL TO BUY AS BOSS CALLS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ‘ICING ON CAKE’
iverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said on Friday the club has spoken to potential signings and he is determined to bring in “a few” new faces in the summer.
A win over relegated Middlesbrough in the Premier League tomorrow will ensure a return to the Champions League for Liverpool — the German called it “the icing on the cake”.
Regardless, Klopp says that his team-building project is exciting players thinking of coming to the club.
“If you look back over the last 10 years, even from outside, Liverpool always looked a massive club,” he said.
“I can only speak from a German point of view of other clubs, but Chelsea has the money, Man City is now coming up — wonderful players, big signings — Manchester United is Manchester United, but we are a really interesting project. Everyone can see that from outside.
“The mood is different, a few people are different, but the base is there. There is still the power and size of this club, but the perspective has changed, we feel it in the talks (with potential signings).
“They have to see it, they have to feel it and they have to make a decision.”
Klopp made clear in the past that he would not be interested in a player whose sole motivation for coming is to play in the Champions League.
He can however understand how it could form an attractive part of a wider package for potential signings.
“It should not sound negative but if the Champions League is the only reason why a player is coming it makes no sense for him or for us. If you have one year of not qualifying, then the player decides he wants another Champions League club,” he said.
“We are powerful in a lot of parts of the game and we will be successful in the future but for this we need the players, of course. We have very good players and we need a few more.”
Klopp, meanwhile, insists that skipper Jordan Henderson will make a full recovery from the foot injury that has kept him out since February.
However, the manager has not put a timescale on Henderson’s return, suggesting that it is a case of having to be patient.
“It’s not a difficult injury, the problem is the rehabilitation, because this is an injury that needs time,” he said.
“But we’re never without our captain for one second because Hendo is always around. He has an unbelievably important role on the pitch and another one in the dressing room.”
Liverpool manager