Win or Lose, Klopp has Liverpool “On a Good Way”

Liverpool’s only goal today is winning the Europa League final. It’s a trophy that would bring with it the added bonus of Champions League qualification for next season, but silverware in this competition and not a route into a different one down the road is the goal. And no matter the outcome, Jürgen Klopp says it won’t change his summer plans.

“Since I said what I’d do if a player said to me he would only come if we have Champions League, no player has said it to me,” Klopp told the Liverpool Echo today, referencing his earlier pronouncement that if a player was unwilling to consider coming to a Liverpool out of the Champions League he would hang up and refuse to consider that player even if Liverpool were in the Champions League.

“Hopefully we will never talk about the money around signings, either. Not because it’s not a big number or something but because if we take a player it’s because we believe he fits what we need, not because he’s expensive or he’s cheap. The owners are completely behind me and that’s really cool. Nobody has said to me that if we are not in the Champions League that affects things.”

Win or lose, then, it appears Liverpool will head into the summer targeting the likes of Bayern Munich attacker Mario Götze, Polish international Piotr Zielinski, Hoffenheim attacker Kevin Volland, and Mainz shot stopper Loris Karius. All have been confirmed as top targets of the club in recent weeks, and Liverpool look at least mild favourites to land all of them once the season comes to a close.

Midfielder Marko Grujic and centre half Joel Matip have already been signed. Both will arrive over the summer to take part in Klopp’s first pre-season in charge at an Anfield revitalized by the German manager. What comes after that is anybody’s guess, but with the renewed confidence surrounding the club, few would be willing to say Klopp doesn’t look have Liverpool back on the right track already.

“What I can say after seven or eight months here is that the whole club feels like it’s on a good way,” Klopp added. “You see it on the pitch. We want to take everything. We fight for everything. But it’s not about ‘we have to be next year there.’ We feel like we’re on a good way.”