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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Tom Cavilla

Liverpool £49m deal for Luis Diaz will prove Jurgen Klopp summer transfer comments right

With only Ibrahima Konate through the doors during the summer transfer window, there was a sense of disappointment among some supporters as Liverpool decided against adding in various areas of the pitch.

The Reds welcomed backed a number of players to the first-team fold after long-term injuries to the likes of Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk, placing the team in a far greater position heading into the current campaign.

There was a general expectation that the 2021 summer transfer window was always destined to be a quiet period as club continued their financial recoveries on the back of a near entire season of football played behind closed doors, though the activity of Manchester City and Manchester United suggested otherwise.

READ MORE: Luis Diaz and five other deals Liverpool could still complete before transfer deadline

READ MORE: Why Jurgen Klopp publicly revealed private player conversation to inspire major Liverpool response

Pep Guardiola's side broke the British transfer record by spending £100million on Jack Grealish, meanwhile United added Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane to their ranks.

Such signings prompted questions of Liverpool's conservative approach to business, but the Reds have continued to prove they will act when the time is right.

Explaining the club's approach to transfers at the end of a quiet summer window, Klopp told Sky Sports : "We have a different way of doing it at Liverpool.

"It didn't hinder us from winning some trophies. Other clubs I am not bothered about, they can do what they want. We do it that way and we were quite successful with it.

"You can always have more options, that's always the case. If you don't need all the options, then you don't have the best atmosphere in the squad. If you need them, then you would wish to have another three or four world-class players just waiting in the garage until you let them out.

"People say they're not getting younger, and that's true.

"But if you start saying that footballers are old when they are 28 or 29, they're not. That's actually the peak and the best age to perform."

In the current case of Luis Diaz, Liverpool have identified a player who they believe can truly add value to the team as well as offering long-term potential.

At 25-years-old, the Colombian still has plenty of time for development and arrives as the club in a similar position to that of Diogo Jota in 2020: hoping to progress to the next level having already shown great promise.

Making clear that the Reds will always make the most of opportunities in the market which make the squad 'stronger', that is exactly what would be achieved if a deal for Diaz is completed.

"I want to do the right stuff," said Klopp.

"When we said we had to go for a new goalkeeper, we were not shy. We went for the best.

"When we said 'Ok, we need a centre-half', again, the club was not why. We can spend what we earn.

"In that moment, Phil Coutinho left for Barcelona. The money was there, so we spent it. Nobody wants to keep money back. That's the situation, and I'm not angry about it or disappointed.

"In a transfer window, there are different options. But just making a squad bigger doesn't make too much sense. If you can make it stronger, that's good. But stronger means for a whole year, not for this game."

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