Jurgen Klopp has admitted Liverpool are in need of a serious rebuild after being thrashed by Real Madrid - but insists he knew that when he signed his new contract.
The German coach could only watch on from the sidelines as his side threw away a two-goal lead to concede five to rampant Madrid - the same team Liverpool narrowly lost last season's Champions League final to, despite dominating the match.
Liverpool fans had been given reasons to be slightly optimistic amid the club's disastrous season after back-to-back wins over Everton and Newcastle heading into the match, before Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah goals gave them a healthy advantage. But ultimately, those did little more than paper over the cracks ahead of what will be a major summer for Klopp as he overhauls his squad.
It's less than a year since the 55-year-old penned a new long-term deal to keep him at Anfield until at least 2026. Discussing the prospect of a big rebuild at a press conference on Friday, he explained: "We know we have to change things and we will. We cannot do that now but it is already clear we have to do something in the summer.
“The way this club is led is not by splashing the money and having a look to see if it works out or not. Our transfers always have to be on point."
Last summer saw the departure of one of Klopp's original key men in Sadio Mane, who followed Georginio Wijnaldum out the exit door 12 months after the Dutchman left Anfield. There are desperate calls for Liverpool to invest heavily in a new midfield to replace the ageing legs of captain Jordan Henderson (32), James Milner (37), Thiago (31) and even Fabinho (29), while the likes of Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - both set to be free agents in the summer - look likely to be moved on.
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In attack, the future of Roberto Firmino remains uncertain amid suggestions he could pen a one-year extension, though the Reds have already acquired their front line of the future with Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo competing for places alongside Mohamed Salah.
Defensively Liverpool have also been called into question, with the long-term roles of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip under scrutiny while Trent Alexander-Arnold has faced heavy criticism this season. It has been a turbulent period for the Reds, compounded by an injury crisis, the club's owners seeking outside investment and, more pertinently, their poor results on the field.
But Klopp pointed out that Liverpool are not in a position to just throw cash at the problem in a mammoth spending spree.
“We cannot make four transfers before we know who will leave the club," he said. "I knew it would be tricky, that is one of the main reasons I signed a new contract.
“Not because I’m that great just because imagine the same situation with another coach. Everyone would have said ‘Bring Klopp back’. We don’t have that.
“Some of them want me out, that’s fine, I can understand that as well. But it is about the stability we can get in. Last season was not a season for big change.
“We played until the last moment and if you want to change at this club you cannot just bring in new players and realise ‘Oh, no-one wants to leave’. It doesn’t work like that."
Liverpool are among the host of clubs chasing Jude Bellingham, while Wolves ' Matheus Nunes has been linked with a switch to Merseyside to kick-start their summer plans. But while Liverpool are battling for little more than a top four spot, Klopp refuses to be drawn on any public transfer discussions when there is still three months left of the season to run.
"For me it's too long (before the transfer window opens). I don't like to talk about it all the time but I have to think it all the time. I cannot change it," he added.
"We have to make our own plans and we do but it's based on the way this club is led and that is different to other clubs. So we will see if it works out or if we have to adapt. Conversations with staff, owners and nothing else."
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