Liverpool’s flat performance in their stalemate against Chelsea on Saturday helped back up Jurgen Klopp’s point about the club’s transfer policy.
The Reds failed to give the Anfield crowd much to shout about in the 0-0 draw in the early kick-off. New signing Cody Gakpo struggled to make an impact and Liverpool needed Alisson to keep out Benoit Badiashile and VAR to rule out Kai Havertz’s early goal.
It was a drab affair which did not match the occasion of Klopp’s 1,000th game as a manager. Liverpool are eighth in the Premier League table, nine points adrift of the top four, and are without a win in their last three league matches.
Liverpool are without the injured Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino, while summer signing Darwin Nunez disappointed as a second-half substitute. The game and the recent run has underlined what Klopp had to say about the general state of play in the Premier League, where spending on transfers continues to rise.
"I can't see investment stopping in the future and that means we have to do it as well," he said in the pre-match press conference. "We don't talk about now because it's always slightly different, but in general.”
Klopp went on to expand on his point, which was particularly timely given the arrival of Chelsea on Merseyside. The Blues have splashed the cash since Todd Boehly’s consortium took over in May, with the £87million signing of Mykhaylo Mudryk emphasising their spending power.
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"I believe in coaching, I believe in developing, I believe in team-building and using those things 100 per cent, but meanwhile in the world out there the managers are really good, there are so many good managers out there it's crazy,” Klopp said. “So they believe in that as well, and if they start really properly spending and do those things as well, then you cannot not spend or you will have a little bit of a problem."
He added: “It's not worrying that other teams can spend, it's probably a matter of fact. We have to react to that as well but not just to that."
Liverpool may not have spent nearly anywhere near as much as Chelsea in the transfer market of late, but they aren’t standing still either. Owners Fenway Sports Group shelled out an initial £37m, which could rise to £45m, to sign Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven.
That deal followed the club-record deal in the summer to sign Nunez, who cost an upfront fee of £64.2m (€75m) alongside a further £21.5m (€25m) in easily attainable add-ons. Yet FSG – who are trying to sell the club – are still some way off the expenditure of their rivals.
However, Chelsea’s approach has been questioned by former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard. “You look at January alone, they’ve broke their record again – what is it close to £150m? When is it going to stop?” he said on BT Sport.
“So are they going to have a positive six months now until the end of the season or are they going to go and spend another £200m? I think there needs to be a bit of patience, there needs to be a bit of calm, relax, and let the manager and the coaching staff build something special. The way to do that is on the training pitch with time, not necessarily adding bodies and expensive signings into the mix.”
