Jurgen Klopp has admitted his views have changed after his historic comments on Paul Pogba were raised ahead of Liverpool’s £110million deal for Moises Caicedo.
The Reds boss confirmed on Friday that a fee has been agreed with Brighton to make the Ecuadorian midfielder the Premier League’s most expensive player, if they can fight off late interest from Chelsea.
Few expected Liverpool to launch such a bid having turned down cheaper opportunities to sign Jude Bellingham and Romeo Lavia earlier in the transfer window.
But their agreement raised eyebrows given Klopp’s comments on Manchester United’s £89m deal for Paul Pogba back in 2016 - which he claimed he wouldn’t dare repeat himself.
He had said: “If you bring one player in for £100m and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney. The day that this is football, I'm not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together.
“Other clubs can go out and spend more money and collect top players. I want to do it differently. I would even do it differently if I could spend that money.”
Klopp was asked for his reflections on the infamous quote during his pre-game press conference ahead of facing Chelsea on the opening week.
The German referenced Saudi Arabian football’s mega spending in his reasoning for making the Caicedo bid, and claimed his hands were tied by the current transfer environment.
“Everything changed,” he admitted. “Do I like it? No. Did I realise I was wrong? Yes. That's the way it goes.
“Saudi Arabia will not help with that.
“In the end, we have to try and make sure we get the best possible team together, 50 per cent will like it and 50 per cent won't. We are trying to bring together the best squad for us.
“We cannot just point on players and bring them in, there is a lot of work to do. Sometimes one door closes and another opens up.
“If people want to throw my quotes from five years ago, no problem. I realise I was wrong.”
