Klopp on Shaqiri and ‘suspicious’ transfer mindset in England

Jurgen Klopp has spoken about new signing Xherdan Shaqiri and the drastic differences of opinion on transfer costs between England and Germany.

Liverpool signed Shaqiri for £13million from Stoke City this summer after activating his release clause, with many citing it as an underwhelming transfer at the time. Shakiri was harshly and inexplicably criticised by Charlie Adam around the time of his transfer, who branded the Swiss winger “lazy” during his time at Stoke.

Klopp alluded to the ‘suspicious’ mindset within Premier League fandom when speaking to SPORT1 recently, as quoted in the Echo.

“I don’t think German football culture would tolerate transfers of 150 million Euros. They love nothing more than a free transfer,” said the Liverpool manager.

“The view in England is different. If a player costs nothing there is a suspicion he must be useless. For example, there was a lot of questioning (in England) around our interest in Xherdan Shaqiri.

“We paid £13million for him after he got relegated with Stoke. But he’s a fantastic player and now everyone at the club loves him. In comparison to Germany, it’s really different.

“I remember a few years ago, the topic on everyone’s lips in Germany was the amount of money, around 100 million Euros, that Bayern Munich were said to have in cash reserves. These days you wouldn’t even get half a Neymar for that!”

READ: Liverpool refuse to budge on Dortmund deal for Origi

DUBLIN, IRELAND – AUGUST 04: Xherdan Shaqiri of Liverpool during the international friendly game between Liverpool and Napoli at Aviva Stadium on August 4, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

READ: Salah and Kane rejected Real Madrid this summer

Klopp continued his assessment of the Bundesliga, explaining how the German league may need to adapt its principles before clubs fall behind their European counterparts. He said:

“Times change. That’s the way they want to do things in Germany and I don’t wish to criticise it.

“It’s a system that can work perfectly well. But then you just have to accept the risk of the top talent going off to ply its trade in England or Spain.

“There’s a decision to be made. Either you keep everything as it is: a great league with fantastic stadia and great atmospheres.

“Or you can go down the road they’ve gone in England. But then the rules have to be changed. You can’t have your cake and eat it.”

Shaqiri has only made a cameo competitive appearance for Liverpool so far this season but looked sharp in pre-season, scoring a wondrous overhead kick in a friendly against Man United and assisting a Daniel Sturridge goal against Torino with delightful lofted ball over the defence

The post Klopp on Shaqiri and ‘suspicious’ transfer mindset in England appeared first on AnfieldHQ.

Source: anfieldhq.com