30 January 2024 , 22:30
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Jurgen Klopp has publicly admitted Jude Bellingham was his number one target last summer and explained how Liverpool got 'lucky' by missing out on Moises Caicedo.
When Klopp realised a serious pursuit of Bellingham would be pointless, he turned his attention to Caicedo but the former Brighton midfielder had his heart set on a move to Stamford Bridge.
And when the Liverpool boss then targeted Romeo Lavia, the Belgian also opted for Chelsea instead. But as Klopp prepared for the clash with Chelsea on Wednesday night, he explained how things actually worked out well for Liverpool.
He said: “We were interested in Bellingham, realised it would not happen and we thought we could maybe do Caicedo so went in … (but) he had an emotional agreement already with Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino. Then Lavia had his own reasons - so we were there. Then we found our top solution.”
And referring to some indiscreet comments he made in December, Klopp added: “We found Wataru (Endo), we already knew Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) could play the position and Dom (Dominik Szoboszlai) was always on my radar.
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“If one of the £100million (signings) had worked, there’s no chance to do another. That’s what I meant when I said we are so lucky. Everything in the ‘if not scenario’ worked out.”
All eyes will certainly be on Liverpool’s transfer business next summer after Klopp’s announcement that he is quitting. But after Virgil van Dijk set alarm bells ringing by admitting he did not know if he would be part of the post-Klopp era - and with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold having only 18 months of their deals left to run - the Liverpool manager insisted there will be no big-name exodus
Jude Bellingham joined Real Madrid (ASSOCIATED PRESS)Klopp said: “These players love to be here, don’t worry. This club is stable, 100 per cent, and everything will be fine, I am 100 per cent sure. I would recommend to stay calm in this department, massively. Virgil is a grown man with a family, four kids. He will decide about his future, nothing to do with me or whatever. He loves this club and is so happy to be here.”
Van Dijk will lead Liverpool against Chelsea and Klopp is expecting a big test of his team’s credentials. He said: “They are a really good football team with an outstanding manager. You cannot see that in the table yet but in the last few weeks they made a big step. I expect them to make more big steps but I want it to start after our game.”
Klopp revealed that Thiago Alcantara has returned to training after missing nine months following a hip operation and gave an update on Salah’s recovery from his hamstring injury, saying: “A muscle injury takes time. It could have been much worse but Mo is not available at the moment - he is just doing his rehab.”