No panic buying at Liverpool, Klopp says
Coach unfazed at others’ moves; question marks over Ozil and Sanchez at Arsenal
Liverpool will not be influenced by their Premier League rivals’ moves in the transfer market and will stick to their own signing plans, manager Juergen Klopp has said.
Klopp’s side have added winger Mohammad Salah and England under-20 striker Dominic Solanke so far, but their spending has been put in the shade by local rivals Everton, who have splashed out more than £100 million (Dh472.5 million).
Manchester United and City, as well as Arsenal, have also spent heavily, but Klopp has urged his team’s supporters not to get caught up in what the opposition are doing.
“We cannot buy players because other teams buy players,” said Klopp after his team’s 4-0 win over Tranmere Rovers in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday.
Egypt international Salah needs to finalise work permit issues before he can play but Solanke made his debut in the friendly.
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud, meanwhile, is unsure about his immediate future at the club but remains focused on preparing for the team’s pre-season fixtures, the France international said.
“At the moment I’m still an Arsenal player so I’ll try to be professional like always and prepare well for next season,” Giroud told Sky Sports in Sydney.
Two other major players that are yet to secure their Arsenal futures are midfielder Mesut Ozil and last season’s top scorer Alexis Sanchez, both of whom have entered the final year of their contracts and are yet to sign new deals.
On Wednesday, the German playmaker said that he would like to stay but would hold talks with the club after pre-season and is hopeful that Sanchez makes the same decision, admitting that the Chilean’s departure would hinder the club’s title challenge. “It would hit the team quite hard if he left because he’s a player who always delivers,” he said. “It would be a setback to winning the title, but in the end it’s the player’s decision.
“I hope Alexis stays but I don’t know what the status is, to be honest. I value him a lot as a player and he’s very well suited to the game Arsenal play.