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What’s the story?
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has defended the Reds' transfer strategy this summer, with the German claiming that the big teams of the past have mostly depended on stability rather than making big changes to their squad.
In case you didn’t know...
After spending big in the summer of 2018, Liverpool had a quite summer transfer window this term. The Merseyside giants were reluctant to add much depth to their already strong squad, with the club making very little additions as compared to their competitors in both England and Europe. Liverpool signed youngsters Sepp van den Berg and Harvey Elliott from PEC Zwolle and Fulham respectively, while goalkeeper Adrian was brought in to replace Simon Mignolet, who left for Club Brugge.
The heart of the matter
Ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League opener against Norwich City on Friday, Klopp explained the reason behind the Reds' unwillingness to spend big this summer.
The German tactician said in his pre-match press conference,
“The big teams of the past – and I don’t say we are a big team now, that will be decided in a couple of years – they stay together for a number of years.
“They do not need a lot of changes. I am not comparing us with Barcelona of five, six or seven years ago but they stayed together. A new player came in and struggled and so it was the same players who played again.
“Manchester United had the class of ’92. How long did they stay together? They changed a few after [Eric] Cantona got older and brought in Van the Man [Ruud van Nistelrooy] or whoever. You do not change completely.
“We are a good team together in a very difficult league with a lot of competitors desperate to get the position we are in. Nobody knows how it will look exactly but Sunday showed we will be fine and the rest is what we make of it.”
When asked to share his views on this season’s Premier League title race, Klopp siad,
“For me, it looks like this season will be different because there was a big gap between the other teams and us and City.
“It looks like we will all be closer to each other than last season. If that is the case then you cannot get 97 or 98 points. We don’t know in this moment. The only thing we know is that nothing will happen for us in a positive direction if we don’t win our games.”
What’s next?
Liverpool will look to start their Premier League campaign with a win over Norwich City at Anfield.
