Jürgen Klopp: “We Know More About Them Than They Can Imagine”

Seven players have been added to Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool squad over the course of this transfer window. Seven very talented, very scouted footballing characters. Klopp spoke with the offal about how potential recruits are explored.

"We know more about them than they can imagine," said Klopp, presumably sneering while petting a hairless cat. "We had a long trip with scouting so when you go and talk to the player you have already scanned him.

"The most important thing," the manager assures us, "is how they can play football: talent, skill, potential but then character is very important."

The leggy German, the coaches and the Liverpool transfer conglomerate spend a great many hours searching for players who fit the system and are driven to produce on the pitch. This goes for the players that got away as well as the ones who have signed on.

"I met all of them before we made the transfer," Klopp adds, "and then it is about feeling the person behind the player. We tried to do our best and at this moment we feel quite confident it has worked."

Jürgen Klopp will now be evaluating his team and sussing out his best starting eleven for the season opener. He and the coaching staff will be looking for player improvement and performance, sure, but the manager is steadfast in his insistence that the team performance is greater than any individual.

"The only chance to come into the team or stay in the team is about performing and doing the job." said Klopp. "It doesn’t mean showing your best but showing your best for the team. Sometimes it is the same, your best is best for the team but if you only show your best it cannot be the best for the team."

So, the best is best if it’s for the best of the best? Yes.

And with new signings, Loris Karius, Alex Manninger, Joel Matip, Ragnar Klavan, Marko Grujic, Georginio Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane, melding easily into Klopp’s Liverpool ethos, the best is surely yet to come.