Liverpool already have a squad capable of winning the Premier League, insists Reds boss Jurgen Klopp

The German is refusing to panic over the club's failure to land two of his top summer targets

Jurgen Klopp believes that Liverpool already have a squad capable of challenging for the Premier League and Champions League.

The German is refusing to panic over the club's failure to land two of his top summer targets after telling his bosses that they must put quality ahead of quantity.


Klopp was handed a transfer budget in excess of £200million after taking the Reds back into the



European elite – but his only recruits have been Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and free transfer Dominic Solanke.

Liverpool are ready to offer Red Bull Leipzig £70million for Naby Keita – as revealed by Sunday Mirror Sport last week - and would still pay Southampton £60million for Virgil van Dijk.

But while their attempts to shatter a club transfer record that has already been broken once this summer have run into a wall of resistance, Klopp is not yet ready to look at Plan B.


In fact, Anfield insiders insist that the list of alternative targets does not include many names. But Klopp has made it clear that his version of football management does not rely on the depth of his club's cheque book.

“There is nothing I can say that will help, so why should I say anything?” was Klopp's response when asked about Liverpool's transfer plans.

“We are interested in a lot of players around the world, as you can imagine, but at this moment I am working with the players I already have.

“That's my job in the first place. I don't go into training thinking 'oh my God, is it still them?' Nobody thinks anymore about the development and improvement of the players you already have.

“It's all about signings. It's all about the transfer market. I understand that's an important part of the year, but if you can't do the first job then you would have a real problem


“I am fine so far. We are still looking, of course, but I think we can play better football than last season with the team we already have.

“We were fourth last year. Maybe this year we can be third. But what I do know is that we can play better football. We need a change here and there – and those things will happen – but it's not the main thing to do.

“The main job is to work with the players I already have.”

Liverpool played just 47 games last season – and the belief inside Anfield is that the 17-point gap to Premier League champions could have been a lot narrower.

Klopp's team were unbeaten against the rest of the top eight, picking up 30 points in 18 games.

But defeats at the hands of Burnley, Crystal Palace, Hull, Swansea, and Bournemouth undermined their hopes of challenging for the title.


And the loss of Sadio Mane for 11 games through injury and African Cup of Nations commitments was also seen as a big factor.
Hence the capture of Salah from Roma for a club record £36.9million

 ^^ Klopp speaking before their departure from hong kong........


Klopp said: “I would love to fight for the title, of course, but I really believe in consistency. If you are convinced about the group you have then you don't have to make big changes.

“Finishing fourth in the Premier League was, for us, a really big thing. Two really big teams were behind us and we should not forget that.

“This group of players achieved that – so give them another chance. Yes, there are a few little things that we can – and will – improve, but the message is 'let's go again.'

“There has been a lot of business around us, but I'm not interested in that. I watch it all like a fan. Yes it's interesting that teams have bought him and him, but it doesn't make me want to do the same.


Mo Salah celebrates his goal (Image: John Powell)
“The difference between us and the other teams is that we haven't lost any players.”

It's a mantra that forged Klopp's reputation at Borussia Dortmund.

When he took over at the Westfalenstadion in 2008, he inherited a team from Thomas Doll that had just finished 13th.

Over the next seven seasons, Dortmund won two Bundesliga titles, the German Cup and two German Super Cups, as well as reaching the 2013 Champions League Final.

It was the quality of Dortmund's recruitment that enabled them to become the biggest threat to Bayern Munich's dominance, with players like Robert Lewandowski, Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Ilkay Gundogan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Shinji Kagawa, Henrikh Mkiitaryan, Ivan Perisic, Neven Subotic and Sven Bender all signed for fees totalling less than £85million

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