GENERATION
Klopp staying to drive on his bright young things
JURGEN KLOPP was talking about building a team for the next 10 years when it dawned on him how young Harvey Elliott will be in 2024.
The Liverpool boss has extended his stay at Anfield until then, a development he says should bring a smile to the face of midfielder Elliott, 16, and the rest of the next generation.
“This four-and-a-half-year deal is very good news for the young players in the academy at the moment,” said Klopp after signing on the dotted line. “I know the boys already who are in now, like Curtis Jones, Harvey. “Harvey turns 21 when my contract ends.” Promising midfielder Jones will hardly be a veteran either at just 23 in 2024.
There will be other young players coming through too.
Forward Rhian Brewster, 19, has only featured in the Carabao Cup this season but is thought to have a bright future at Anfield.
And there will be signings, some big names and some players with promise, just like it has been since Klopp joined in October 2015.
The 52-year-old knows he will have to build another team before his contract runs out.
But it does not worry him because he feels he already has the perfect foundations in place.
“We have to have changes,” said Klopp. “That is normal. I have no clue how and who. That’s completely normal. We have to refresh things, we have to change some things.
“This team will always be the core set, the basis for all other teams following.
“There is no need to make the same number of changes that we made in the last four and a half years in the next four and a half years. Absolutely not.
“This is an outstanding team and we never could have imagined we’d get a group like this together, but of course there will be things.
“A player might want to leave, which is OK, then we have to bring in the right replacement.
“To keep the level we are on we have to be really on our toes and to be on your toes you need to change sometimes a little bit the circumstances. That is what we will do.”
The news came on the eve of a game against bottom club Watford that could further strengthen Liverpool’s grip at the top of the Premier League.
It also provided a timely boost after the other side they support in red got a battering.
Liverpool is a predominantly Labour city but woke up to another five years of Conservative government.
Klopp added: “If the people wanted a lift today and they feel it is a lift, then they are welcome.
“That’s nice. I feel the same, it is the same strange feeling after what happened on Thursday, which was tough to take.
“It is how it is and now we have to see how that will go on in all parts of life.”