Jurgen Klopp has ruled out a move by Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham this summer.
The 19-year-old Englishman is a player in whom Liverpool have a clear interest, dating back to his time as a youth player with Birmingham City, and which fans would certainly like the club to acquire.
However, Merseyside reporters were informed in early summer that Liverpool’s business this summer had ended, with a high-quality midfielder as a target for next summer.
The narrative has always been that Dortmund would not be willing to lose Bellingham the same summer as losing Erling Haaland.
“He’s not in the market, so that’s the first problem with this player,” Klopp told members of the written press in an interview with Kirkby before the team flew to Asia.
Clearly, Klopp is a fan of the player, and he added, “Well, that’s the only problem with this player!”
However, the Reds coach insists his current midfield options are plentiful and launched a defense against the perception that there are not enough goals from midfield, saying he “doesn’t understand” that argument.
“I don’t get it,” Klopp said. “People talked to me about this discussion, but the last thing that came to my mind was that we had to do this.
“I know all these things, that ‘we don’t score enough goals from midfield’, this and that, but what do we want? This ‘Golden Cow’ that is producing absolutely everything, milk too !.
“It simply came to our notice then. Where do you want to start?
“So Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Milner, Keita, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho, Oxlade-Chamberlain. Now tell me what kind of player are we missing? One that is offensive, 1.95m and reaches the area to direct head balls? Okay, other than that!
“We have three players in the squad who can easily play as number 6: Fabinho, of course, but Hendo and Milly played well.
“Creativity? If we bring a player just for that, we immediately make it harder for Harvey, Curtis and Fabio.
“They can all play different positions too, of course, Curtis can play a higher line and Harvey and Fabio can play there too. Well. We can also play with a different system, where we only need two midfielders, but all these guys can play as number 10 in the new system.
“So where is the need for a midfielder? I wait for the day for someone to come to me and tell me why, exactly.”
Klopp also said Tyler Morton was “amazing” in training, saying Liverpool will not sign any midfielders this summer:
“No. I can tell.
“I don’t think anything will happen in the middle of the field, but you never know. If someone comes to you and says “I want to go”, then …
“No one has come to me yet, but if that happens, we’ll have to talk again.”
As always, however, a coach’s words should always be taken with a pinch of salt, as Liverpool reached an agreement with Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni in early summer before moving to Real Madrid. .
It is clear that Anfield is looking for a midfielder, when there is one of the right caliber.