KLOPP GROWING TIRED OF CALLS FOR FRESH SIGNINGS

JURGEN KLOPP insists that demands for Liverpool to spend again in January are disrespectful to his current players — with the Anfield club having already sealed a £45million deal for Dutch forward Cody Gakpo. Klopp’s long-term ambition is to build a squad capable of putting out two different but equally strong starting XIs. But the German is getting fed up with the obsession over more recruits this month with Liverpool on a run of four wins in a row ahead of today’s trip to Brentford and saving funds for a big move for Jude Bellingham in the summer. ‘I’ve been here seven years and every transfer window is the same,’ he said. ‘We talk as if money wouldn’t play a role, but we cannot play Monopoly. We have signed an outstanding player like Cody Gakpo and next thing you read is: “Who next?” It’s as if we don’t have a team already. ‘It’s a big part of my philosophy to work full of faith and trust with the players we have and not constantly question them by telling them we need another player for their position. ‘People are surprised when I say we will not now just start splashing the cash. ‘Yeah, I never did it and know the phrase anyway! It should be really clear. If there is something we can do, and that means right player and financial situation, we will do it. And if not, then not.’ Liverpool would have to complete Gakpo’s paperwork by lunchtime to make him eligible to face Brentford and the likeliest outcome is the World Cup star debuts against Wolves in the FA Cup at the weekend. ‘It made sense to sign Gakpo now in case his valuation had doubled by the summer,’ said Klopp. ‘We will have more games, not less, in the next few years and it’s clear you need real quality in all positions. Ideally, you probably want two teams with the same level so you can rotate and these kind of things.’ Virgil van Dijk led the inquests into a sloppy defensive performance against Leicester on Friday even though

Liverpool ended up winning 2-1 with a couple of own goals. Holland’s captain at the World Cup is using a bitter quarter-final defeat on penalties to Argentina to give him an extra edge. ‘It fuels me both for Netherlands and also motivates me here at Liverpool,’ he said. ‘We are quite some points behind Arsenal but the season could be a very crazy one, a very strange one.’