German tactician Jurgen Klopp says he “doesn’t care” about the “increasing pressure” at Liverpool after spending nearly £170m on four new players this summer.
The Reds have signed goalkeeper Alisson and midfielders Naby Keita, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri as they look to close the gap on Manchester City. Liverpool finished 25 points behind Premier League winners City last term. “We have not bought a team whilst the others have sold theirs, it is not like this,” manager Klopp said. “We don’t have a free way to go to the championship, it will be really hard. They are still there, but we have improved our position for us. What it means for the league we will see.”
Liverpool have spent nearly £250m in the last 12 months, including world record fees for £66.8m goalkeeper Alisson from Roma and £75m defender Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in January. This summer, Guinea midfielder Keita has arrived from RB Leipzig for about £50m, Brazil midfielder Fabinho has joined from Monaco in a deal that could be worth more than £40m, and Switzerland winger Shaqiri has come in from Stoke for £13m. However the club has also raised significant funds, including through the £142m sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in January.
Klopp said: “Pressure is only on the outside. That is not important really. What you say about me in three months doesn’t change my life completely. It is exactly the same with our owners. We are completely fine. It is not as though the others are asleep. You are right, the pressure comes from outside. It is probably increasing. I don’t care about that. I want us to play the best football we can play and make our fans happy. That is it. What other people say, I don’t care. I am not a dreamer, I don’t dream that we can be there or there. Other people can do that but we have to build a ground for these dreams. We need to play football and that is 80% of the season, if not 90%, the hardest work. The 10% is the day when you go bang, bang, bang and win 5-0. Wow. That is football.”
Photo Credit: Getty
