Klopp: “I have no problem with a player leaving. The only problem I had for the club was that I wanted to get some money: 'Sign a new contract and then we'll sell you!' But that wasn't really realistic.”
Jurgen Klopp offered the above response when reflecting on Emre Can’s decision to leave Liverpool for Juventus back in 2018.
A £10.5m signing from Bayer Leverkusen four years earlier, the Reds signed the then-20-year-old German was a trademark FSG signing - a talented young player with plenty of potential, bought for a ‘bargain’ fee.
While they had been able to bank £142m for Philippe Coutinho a few months earlier, having spent only £8.5m when signing the 20-year-old Brazilian from Inter Milan in January 2013,
they would lose Can for nothing as he departed on a Bosman transfer at the end of his contract.
The only problem is that throughout the German’s Reds reign, having previously financed moves for Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, and Fabinho with the funds raised from selling Coutinho, a plethora of free transfer exits have left Liverpool
Under Klopp’s watch alone Balotelli, Enrique, Markovic, Can, Sturridge, Moreno, Clyne, Lallana, Wijnaldum, Origi, and Karius have all left the club on free transfers after their own big-money moves to Anfield. While you can’t dispute the departure of most of these players, Liverpool spent a combined £154m when signing
Meanwhile, Roberto Firmino has already confirmed he will depart at the end of his contract this summer, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are also currently poised to join such a list.
At least when it comes to Firmino and Wijnaldum, the Reds, while winning every major honour going, have milked every last drop out of their talent during their Anfield careers
The way this team is led not by splashing the money and then seeing whatever works out,” Klopp explained back in February. “Our transfers always have to be on point.
“That makes it really tricky. We cannot make four transfers before we know who will leave the club and stuff like this.”
If Liverpool’s transitional period is to last just one season, they need to reassess their recent transfer approach, even if that results in some difficult decisions, and discover a stable middle ground
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