While many Liverpool fans went into the summer hoping for a big signing or two to round out the squad and close the gap on Manchester City, management have been steadfast in their belief in the current group—not just the starters, but also the depth options already at the club.
It’s a stance manager Jürgen Klopp reiterated in an interview with Sky Sports following the Community Shield on Sunday, insisting that he believes in the players he already has in the squad and suggesting that fans perhaps aren’t giving enough credit to Liverpool’s current options.
“You should never do transfers because other clubs are doing transfers,” Klopp said. “That makes no sense. If you sit back for a second and have a look at the squad, do we need more players? People will say, yes, we need a substitute for Sadio Mane, for Mohamed Salah, whatever.
”But those players are here. So, do you get a one-for-one replacement? A big signing? People think that players from other clubs, other countries, are better than the players we have [at the club] but without really having the proof, because those players haven’t played here.”
Obviously, nobody expected an upgrade on Salah or Mané, but Klopp’s message appears to be that, as far as realistic options who would be willing to join the club to be behind them in the pecking order, it would be just as hard to improve on Xherdan Shaqiri or Divock Origi or Rhian Brewster.
Whether or not the fans entirely agree with that, at this point, given what Klopp’s done and with him seeing these players every day in training, the manager should have more than earned himself the benefit of the doubt—if he’s happy with his squad, then that’s really all that matters.
“It’s just that what is new is seen as more exciting,” he added. “It’s like with a new car. Your old car is completely reliable, but you want a new one and two weeks later it breaks down. It looks better, but obviously it’s not that good.”