Liverpool's preparations for a summer rebuild have already begun, with talks taking place over a number of potential midfield targets as they accept Jude Bellingham will not be moving to Anfield.
The Reds are in need of reinforcements in the middle of the park, with Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain expected to leave at the end of the season. Bellingham was strongly linked last season, but it appears the Borussia Dortmund midfielder will cost too much for last season's Champions League finalists.
With this in mind, the focus has turned to other options. Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister are among the names being mentioned in connection with the club, who do not yet know which European club competition they will be playing in next season.
According to The Mail, the Reds' higher-ups held a recruitment meeting last week in London's Fitzrovia, where the club has offices. The focus, these reports suggest, was to collate information about those being targeted for a summer swoop.
One of the players high on the club's radar is Ryan Gravenberch. The Dutch international, who has been linked with a move away from Bayern Munich after struggling for minutes, is open to an Anfield move after his advisors held talks with Liverpool.
It has been suggested that Gravenberch would command a fee in the region of £25m. However, Liverpool would likely need to pay considerably more to land Alexis Mac Allister - another of their summer targets, with talks reportedly expected 'soon' - after the Brighton star signed a new long-term deal with the Seagulls before the World Cup.
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"There's nothing to say about it to be honest," Liverpool boss Klopp said in a press conference on Friday when asked about the Bellingham reports. "If we don't speak about players we sign or not sign, why would I speak about this kind of speculation and news? I have nothing to say about it.
"It has always been like this. It's never changed. My answer now is not about Jude Bellingham. I never understood why we constantly talk about things we theoretically cannot have. We cannot have six players in the summer for £100m [each], for example. That’s clear.
"You have to realise what you can do and then you have to work with that. How much money do we have available? Then we work with that. That’s the job you have to do.
“It’s just [about] what you can do. And then you do it and work with that. It was always how I’ve worked.
"What we need and what we want, we try absolutely everything to get it. But there are moments we have to accept this or that are not possible for us and step aside and do different stuff.”
