Jürgen Klopp: “Short-Term Solution” at Centre Half “Doesn’t Help Really”

Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images

The Liverpool manager says fans shouldn’t expect a new centre half to arrive this month.

Liverpool are without Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, likely for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. They’re without Joël Matip for at least a few more weeks—and even after that, the player’s lengthy injury history can’t help but give pause.

For most watching on, the belief is that the club have to buy a centre half to get through the congested second half of the season, especially if the goal is winning silverware. Jürgen Klopp, though, says such a signing is at the very least unlikely.

“I can’t say for sure we won’t bring someone in,” Klopp said. “Just it is not likely because of the situation. It’s a tough for one for all people and football clubs. Maybe some clubs don’t have financial problems but we try to be responsible.”

Talk of responsible is well and good, but nobody is expecting the club to sign a marquee player like Kalidou Koulibaly—and it wouldn’t have to cost the Reds anything like Koulibaly’s £80M price tag to bring in a competent centre half.

When talking about what’s financially responsible, too, it’s worth remembering that the difference between winning the league and finishing fifth would be tens of millions of pounds. And each extra round in Europe is worth millions.

Klopp, though, insists responsible here means Liverpool will not sign a centre half—and while the club may not want to spend big on a long-term kind of target right now, it seems it’s the manager who’s against a short-term solution.

“I don’t know if something will happen,” he added. “It would be a short-term solution and that doesn’t help really. So we will do things like we have so far. It is not the best moment for the planet so why would it be for a football club?”

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com