Jurgen Klopp has warned Liverpool cannot afford to be left behind this summer as he highlighted the danger the recruitment of their rivals represents.
Liverpool are in transition and the scrutiny on them has been intensified after they were skewered by Real Madrid, the 5-2 defeat putting them on the brink of Champions League elimination.
With domestic form erratic, there is no guarantee they will be in that competition next season.
Klopp knew a bump in the road was coming and that is why he signed a contract last April that runs until 2026.
Circumstances meant he could not make a significant overhaul in the close season but he wants to change that in the next window.
Jurgen Klopp said he is worried by Liverpool’s big-spending rivals ahead of a summer rebuild
Liverpool are in transition and the scrutiny on them has been intensified after they were thrashed 5-2 by Real Madrid, which left them on the brink of Champions League elimination
‘I have nothing to do with that. So I think we’ve played five years in a row in the Champions League, which is massive and we went to the final three times in that time, which is massive from a money point of view. We built a stand and a training ground and the club is in a really good place.
The landscape has changed, with the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Newcastle all set to spend heavily and Klopp has explained this to Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group, emphasising the need to be similarly aggressive. Jude Bellingham is the top target but more additions are needed.
‘My job is to make it 100 per cent clear what we need from a sports point of view and then other people are responsible for giving us the resources,’ said Klopp, insisting that changes behind the scenes – such as Sporting Director Julian Ward leaving – have not altered the recruitment process.
‘But around us, a few people are speeding up a little bit and you cannot ignore that. You cannot ignore that. It’s still about bringing in the right players – it’s not about bringing in a lot.
‘It’s about the right player. And thank God in the world of football there are a lot of right players.
‘Not all of them are affordable, or want to come but there are a lot of really good players out there. That is it.
‘The only reason I don’t like to talk too much about it now is because there are a lot of games to play. This (current) team is the basis for what we do and it always was the basis.
‘I always have the same say. I cannot decide, at all, about…