Jurgen Klopp has bluntly called out the influence of oil money on football, by insisting that “no one can compete” with Manchester City ’s riches.
The Liverpool boss is tasked with doing just that on Sunday, when a Liverpool side who have run the UAE-owned club the closest over the past five years, must find a way to stop City and their star striker Erling Haaland. Klopp though, when asked how he will do it, insisted that people will not appreciate his answer…because he believes it is an unfair contest.
“You will not like the answer, and you all have the answer already. Nobody can compete with City,” he said, with an explicit criticism of the imbalance in football for the first time. "You have the best team in the world and you put in the best striker on the market, no matter what it costs, you just do it. I know City will not like it, nobody will like it. You've asked the question but you know the answer.”
Klopp argued that three clubs - City, Qatari-owned PSG and Newcastle, who are owned by the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia - have the backing of a nation’s wealth which allows them to “do whatever they want”.
He knows the rules within the sport relating to governance and fair play can do little to curb the spending power of such powerful, oil rich countries and reduce City’s current dominance, meaning there is little his club can do in response.
He added: “What does Liverpool do? We cannot act like them. It is not possible. Not possible. It is just clear and again you know the answer. There are three clubs in world football who can do what they want financially. It's legal and everything, fine, but they can do what they want. They will say 'yeah but we have...' but it's exactly the fact.
Is Jurgen Klopp right? If so what should be done about mega-rich clubs? Have your say here
"I heard now that at Newcastle somebody (sporting director Dan Ashworth) said 'there is no ceiling for this club'. Yes! He is right. He is absolutely right. There is no ceiling for Newcastle. Congratulations, but other clubs have ceilings."
Klopp has injury worries ahead of the visit of City, with the German coach admitting he must wait until Saturday to see who is fit to face the champions.
