Jurgen Klopp has officially confessed Jude Bellingham was his top target last summer and explained how Liverpool was ‘fortunate’ to miss out on Moises Caicedo.
When Klopp realized that pursuing Bellingham was fruitless, he turned his attention to Caicedo, but the former Brighton midfielder was set on a move to Stamford Bridge.
And when Liverpool’s manager wanted Romeo Lavia, the Belgian chose Chelsea instead. However, as Klopp prepared for Wednesday night’s match against Chelsea, he revealed how things turned out beautifully for Liverpool.
t happen, so we thought we could do Caicedo and went in…” However, he had already reached an emotional accord with Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino. Then Lavia had his own motives, and we were there. Then we identified our best answer.”
And, in response to some indiscreet remarks he made in December, Klopp said: “We found Wataru (Endo), we already knew Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) could play the position, and Dom (Dominik Szoboszlai) was always on my radar.
“If one of the £100 million (signings) was successful, there is little prospect of doing another. That’s what I meant when I said we’re extremely lucky. “Everything in the ‘if not scenario’ worked.”
Following Klopp’s resignation announcement, all eyes will undoubtedly be on Liverpool’s transfer business next summer. But after Virgil van Dijk set alarm bells ringing by admitting he did not know if he would be a part of the post-Klopp era, and with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold having only 18 months of their contracts remaining to run, the Liverpool manager assured there will be no big-name exodus.
Klopp stated, “These players enjoy being here, so don’t worry. This club is 100% stable, and I am confident that everything will be OK. I would strongly advise staying cool in this department. Virgil is an adult man with a family of four children. He will make his own decisions regarding his future, with no regard for me or anybody else. “He loves this club and is overjoyed to be here.”
Van Dijk will lead Liverpool against Chelsea, and Klopp expects a strong test of his team’s credentials. He stated, “They are a very talented football team with an outstanding management. You can’t see it in the table yet, but they’ve made significant progress in recent weeks. I expect them to make more significant progress, but I want it to begin after our game.”