HOW KLOPP BUILT SOUAD FIT TO CHASE THE OUAD
‘The money doesn’t interest me. It’s enough that I have the first and the last word — in the middle, we discuss. We want to discuss good players on the highest level but I’m not a genius. I need other people to get the perfect information,’
JURGEN KLOPP — Oct 9; 2015
WHeN looking at the squad Liverpool have assembled, the one that is propelling them to a shot at history, it is important to go back to the beginning.
The first day Klopp was put in front of the cameras, he had been warned to expect questions about ‘The Transfer Committee’.
It’s easy to forget, such has been the success of late, that seven years ago mention of it was greeted with incredulity.
Liverpool’s recruitment had been more miss than hit, with the perception that too many people behind the scenes had opinions and the finance wasn’t there to match ambitions.
The assumption, given that transfers had been such a thorny issue for Brendan Rodgers, was that Klopp would end up getting frustrated with all the voices and the opinions. On that first day at Anfield, though, unity would be the new theme.
‘To make a transfer, you think so much about it — will the player fit?’ Klopp explained after signing his contract extension last week. ‘Will they help us? Can we help the player to make the next step? And will the player help us to take the next step? That is the main thing you have to sort.
‘Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Sometimes it does work out. That is what we tried to do and will continue to try to do. That is what I understand was the transfer committee: people who work in the same direction.’
The results have been spectacular. Liverpool are chasing an unprecedented Quadruple because of the depth they have assembled.
Klopp finds himself grappling with the dilemma of who to omit from his matchday 18 and his options are game-changing: look no further than Luis diaz’s cameo against Villarreal, splashing through the puddles to set up another date with Real.
So how have they done it? There have been several slidingdoors moments along the way. For instance, in the January after Klopp signed, Liverpool wanted to sign Alex Teixeria, a Brazilian winger who had been flying with Shakthar donetsk.
They bid £25million but it was rebuffed. Had the move been successful, such an investment would have resulted in no move for Southampton’s Sadio Mane in summer 2016. Teixeira ended up joining Chinese side Jiangsu Suning then Besiktas.
There are other cases of what might have been. Liverpool were sweet on Ben Chilwell, when he was a teen at Leicester, but couldn’t agree personal terms. Roma’s emerson Palmieri was another left-back target but he was injured in 2017. So they went for their next option: Andy Robertson.
For Klopp, it has been about having players who are committed to a project and selfimprovement, only buying players if the moment and finance was right.
The tale of selling Philippe Coutinho to raise the revenue for Virgil van dijk and Alisson Becker has been well told but a more recent example of this trading came last summer when they sold Harry Wilson (£12m to Fulham), Marko Grujic (£10.5 to Porto), Xherdan Shaqiri (£9.5m to Lyon) and Taiwo Awoniyi (£6.5m to Union Berlin) to buy Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig.
Trading smart and working as a group has been the way forward. Julian Ward, who will replace Michael edwards as sporting director this summer, is highly regarded by Klopp.
The German called it right that October day in 2015 with so many things but particularly so with what was required for transfers. He was surrounded by people who could help him get the right information: the results of this long-term plan are close to reaching fruition.