Jurgen Klopp has launched a defence of Liverpool's midfield options as he broke his silence on transfer interest in Jude Bellingham.
The Reds have been linked with a move for the Borussia Dortmund midfielder this summer, despite the Bundesliga side's reported unwillingness to enter into discussions over the England international after offloading star striker Erling Haaland to Manchester City earlier in the transfer window.
Bellingham is a player who has plenty of admirers within Liverpool's recruitment department, including Klopp, but the Reds boss says he doesn't believe the 19-year-old is available this summer. And Klopp thinks his midfield is already well stocked as he talked up the talents of the players he is entrusting to perform in the Liverpool engine room this coming campaign.
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"No [we're not looking to buy], I can say that," Klopp said. "I don’t think something will happen in midfield, but you never know. If somebody comes to you and says ‘I want to go...' Nobody came to me yet, but if that happens then we have to talk [about] new [players]. But if the situation stays like it is, then tell me why?
"I don’t understand. I do not understand. People told me about this discussion, but the last thing that would have crossed my mind is that we have to [sign a midfielder].
"I know all these things, that we don’t score enough goals from midfield, this and that, but what do we want? This ‘Golden Cow’ that is producing absolutely everything, milk as well!
"We can go through it. Where do you want to start? So, Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Milner, Keita, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho, Oxlade-Chamberlain. Now you tell me what kind of player are we missing? One who is offensive, 1.95m and arrives into the box to head balls in? OK, apart from that!
"We have three players in the squad who can easily play as a No.6 - Fabinho, of course, but Hendo and Milly played it fine. Creativity? If we bring in a player just for that, we immediately make it more difficult for Harvey, Curtis and Fabio.
"They can all play different positions as well of course, Curtis can play a line higher and Harvey and Fabio can play there too. Fine. We can play a different system as well, where we might only need two midfielders, but then all these guys can play as a No.10 in the new system. So where is the need for a midfielder? The day when somebody comes to me and tells me why exactly."
On Bellingham interest, Klopp added: "He’s not on the market, so that’s the first problem with that player. Well, the only problem with that player!
"Of course [I value the youngsters highly]. And we should not forget that last season, in the first four games, Harvey Elliott was the best player. He was outstanding.
"Then he had a bad injury, came back, [he was] high, low. Normal for a young player, and normal after a long injury. He looks sharp now, he’s back, and like everybody he needs luck.
"Curtis Jones - what a player he is as well. Oxlade-Chamberlain, he played the first part of the season quite a lot, and in January played different positions. Yes, he didn’t play a lot after that but [remember] how good he was.
"Fabio, you look at him and what he did at Fulham. Why should we bring a boy in and tell him he is midfielder number nine. It makes no sense. You have to leave the doors open for the boys. I really don’t understand the discussion.
"We always try to improve, and we can improve internally as well. They can put pressure on the more experienced guys, for sure. By the way, Tyler Morton in training, incredible! He plays as a No.8 now, we don’t force him to play as a controlling No.6 in a Premier League game [like v Spurs]. He’s training as an 8, and it’s like ‘wow, how good is that?!’ He’s still here.
"There’s really a lot of excitement for this situation from our side, and like I say, if you want guarantees then you have to look somewhere else. We work a lot with expectations, and our starting point most of the time is very, very positive."
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