Improved Depth Means Players Must “Be Ready for the Challenge” Says Jürgen Klopp

With five new first team signings and no European football for Liverpool this season, Jürgen Klopp has warned his players that the team comes first and that they will need to prove they deserve minutes; that no player in his squad is more worthy of a starting role than any other.

January signings Jöel Matip and Marko Grujic have arrived—and impressed. Loris Karius has used a pre-season head start to install himself as favourite to start in goal against Arsenal. And the arrival of Sadio Mané and Gini Wijnaldum should insure competition is fierce for minutes in Liverpool's midfield.

"It will be really important that every player thinks he is really important," said the Liverpool manager. "But in the moment when he thinks he is more important than other players, then we have a problem. So they need to be ready for the challenge, the new players and the players we had already."

How long some members of Liverpool's newly swollen squad will be content if they aren't getting quite as many minutes as they think they deserve is a question for the future. For now, it's about the excitement of competition and seeing who can position themselves best ahead of the 2016-16 season.

For now, Liverpool on paper look about as deep and well stocked with talent as they have at any point in recent years. For now, for the first time in a long time, they have depth and rotation options at almost every position on the pitch bar perhaps fullback, which remains a target for improvement.

"Of course," said Klopp when asked if he was excited by the squad taking shape. "But I think most other teams are in a similar place and have made some transfer they like and are satisfied. That's the only problem I have. But I am quite excited about our situation. We will be ready for the season, 100 percent.

"We will fight for everything and we will challenge everybody—that's the plan. We will use this time to train and we will really try to build a real team and group. Each player is important for this."