Klopp Admits it’s “Clear” what Liverpool Need in the January Transfer Market

With the January transfer window only weeks away, Liverpool have mostly been linked with attacking players. Players who could cover for Philippe Coutinho now and Sadio Mané later next month when he heads off to the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.

A few defenders have been linked, but not many, and none have stuck as supposed serious targets. Today, as he prepares for Middlesborough on Wednesday looking to rebound from two poor league results, manager Jürgen Klopp addressed the transfer situation.

“The winter transfer market is the more difficult,” he noted when asked if his side would engage in any business in January. However, the Liverpool manager didn’t seek to shut down transfer talk entirely. Instead, he admitted there could be some business done.

“We are always looking. If you look at our bench yesterday, we are experienced in defence but not on offence. If the situation stays like this it is clear we have open eyes, but the players you want—other clubs don’t want to sell, and it’s not because of money.”

Christian Pulisic, Quincy Promes, Julian Brandt. The sort of player Liverpool are looking for in January is hardly a secret at this point, and it seems as though Klopp isn’t trying to hide the fact that they are in the market for a versatile attacking player.

The question now is whether any of the players Liverpool rate highly have clubs willing to sell. Given part of the goal is to add strength and depth quickly while Coutinho is out and to get any new signing settled before Mané leaves, speed will also be key.

That means whatever happens, fans likely won’t have much longer to wait to find out if the club can get a deal done—Klopp will be hoping to get his man in quickly, likely within the first week. If he doesn’t, January could feel like an awfully long month.