|
CHARLOTTE -- Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits he has changed his mind regarding past comments about record transfer fees paid by his rivals in the past. The German manager also said he doesn't care if people think he is a hypocrite for those comments after having paid record fees for two players since the start of 2018. Goalkeeper Alisson joined Liverpool earlier this week in a deal worth up to £65 million, making him the latest big-money recruit to move to Anfield in the past 12 months, following Virgil van Dijk (£75m), Naby Keita (£52.75m), Fabinho (£44m) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£40m). Klopp spoke out against high transfer fees in July 2016 after Manchester United parted with £89.3m to sign Paul Pogba, saying he would "do it differently" even if he had such funds at his disposal. But speaking at a news conference at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday, the Liverpool manager stressed that these latest moves are done simply with the aim of delivering success. "That is the problem these days," he said. "Whatever bulls--- you say, nobody will forget it. "On the other side, it is still kind of true. I couldn't imagine the world would change like that two and a half years ago. £100m was a crazy number. "Since then the world has changed completely. I am sure at this moment we have signed the most-expensive goalkeeper. It is early in the transfer window. There will be some nice transfers to follow. "My responsibility is for this club to be as successful as possible. It is not for me to push through my thoughts and say we don't want to buy players or pay big money and in the end Liverpool is not successful. That doesn't work. "We have a really good squad. To improve it is expensive. Better players than we already have are not waiting around the corner. "You need to respect contracts but if you are interested in a player you have to try and bring them in. When we are convinced about it our owners, thank God, believe that much in the project, then they say let's do it." Klopp continued: "We don't care what the world around us is thinking, like Man United didn't care what I said. It is only an opinion in that moment. "Did I change my opinion? Yes. That is true. But it is better to change your opinion than never have one. That is it. "Whatever people say about that and bring it up again and again, I have had worse days in my life and worse things. I am fine with that. All good. We have the players we wanted. I am fine with that." Liverpool just arrived in the U.S. for the first of their three International Champions Cup fixtures stateside as they take on Borussia Dortmund on Sunday. Asked about whether Dortmund's Christian Pulisic was a player on his radar, Klopp, who managed the Bundesliga side for seven years, admitted he is a fan of the U.S. international. Liverpool had a €13m bid rejected for Pulisic back in August 2016, with Klopp believing the 19-year-old is still unavailable for a transfer. "He has a contract at Dortmund, no? That's the first problem!" Klopp said. "I like Christian, I've known him since he was a kid and he's still not really old. "He's a fantastic player and it's deserved that people think highly of him in America -- in Germany it's the same. "If he wants to play in England one day or whatever and he, for sure, has the chance to do so. But in this moment he's in a really good club for his development. They know him already. "He had not his best season last year but he is still a decisive player. It's very important at that age group that there's no rush because he still has 14 or 15 years to play in his career. That's good. "He wants to be, I'm sure, the best Christian Pulisic he can be. For this, there's still space for development. "If he would at one point join us I don't know. But I like him and it's not like that could be the problem. "We respect contracts still and there is no market that I know about in the moment. We did our business and Dortmund is doing their business, so all good." Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah has "fully recovered" from the shoulder injury he sustained during the Champions League final, according to Klopp. Salah, who was granted an extended break following the World Cup, is with Liverpool in the U.S. after returning to Melwood on Friday. The 26-year-old only played in two of Egypt's three games in Russia this summer and struggled to replicate his record-breaking Liverpool form as a result of the injury. "He was completely fine and is completely fine now," Klopp added. "He looks full of joy and he's really happy to be back"
|
