MY ACCOUNT
Jurgen Klopp is adamant he can offer no insight into how much money Liverpool need to spend following claims the Reds boss will have told the club £250million of investment is required.
Former Liverpool defender Carragher made those comments while working as part of Sky Sports’ punditry team for their EFL Cup last-16 defeat to Manchester City.
His words came after Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) put the club up for sale last month, with FSG saying it is also open to bringing in a strategic partner.
Liverpool resume the Premier League season against Aston Villa on December 26 following the World Cup break sitting 15 points behind leaders Arsenal and seven behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
The Gunners’ renaissance and Newcastle United’s emergence as Champions League contenders have complicated Liverpool’s pursuit of a place in the top four and leave the Reds likely facing more competition for those positions in the coming years.
“I think there’s no doubt that Jurgen Klopp has said to Liverpool’s owners, ‘I need £250m to spend in the summer’,” Carragher said, “and that sounds like an outrageous figure, but that’s what Man United and Chelsea spent last summer.
“These are the figures that the teams Liverpool are competing with are spending, and I think only once in Jurgen Klopp’s tenure Liverpool have really gone for it in the transfer market, just after the Champions League final [in 2018]. They bought a lot of players, and I think it needs that now.
“You’re talking about that kind of investment, and I don’t think FSG have those funds right now, that’s why they’re looking for investment to come in and help them.”
Liverpool have been linked with Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham and Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez, both of whom impressed at the World Cup for England and Argentina respectively.
“Ooooh, it’s Christmas time, huh?” Klopp replied when asked about Carragher’s remarks.
“I don’t know about what amount of money you need exactly, but I am not against investment, to be honest.
“We will see what the future brings. Nobody knows in the moment, but I’m convinced it will be good and the future is bright for us. At the moment, we have to sort the present, and that is what we are working on.”
On Liverpool’s prospects in the January transfer window, Klopp replied: “I am the wrong person to ask; I don’t know. January in our situation is a window where we are always prepared, that’s how it is.
“It’s clear what ideas we have and how the necessity is from our point of view. All the rest doesn’t lie 100 per cent in our hands. We always work with what we have got, and that will not change.”
