In his most recent pre-game press conference, Jurgen Klopp will reiterate his belief that Liverpool won’t bolster their roster further in January.
The German responded angrily when he was questioned about it prior to last week’s trip to Brighton & Hove Albion since he had already ruled out the chance of the Reds adding to the signing of Cody Gakpo this month.
When asked about Liverpool’s attitude on transfers again before the Reds’ FA Cup rematch with Wolves, Klopp would explain why more signings this month are improbable.
“It’s all about what you can do,” he said. “As well (as) what you want to do, but it’s much more important what you can do…
“Of course, we would enlist players’ assistance if the answers to our problems were obvious, practicable, and attainable. If you sign players, we won’t be able to add them all to the Premier League or Champions League rosters. It is not feasible given the size of our team.
“Yes, we need to get stronger. Oh, absolutely, but is now the appropriate time to act? Because of the circumstances, I am unable to see it.”
It would seem that the essential words there are “available” and “doable.” Liverpool will have a short list of players they would like to sign, but in the end, their ideal high-caliber targets are either not available right now or are now too expensive for the Reds to afford.
Gakpo was already acquired by Liverpool in January with an initial fee of £37 million from PSV Eindhoven. Originally scheduled for next summer, the Reds decided to make the transfer early after losing both Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz to long-term injuries. They knew that if they waited, rival teams might sign the Dutchman, and that his price would undoubtedly increase by the end of the season.
Liverpool swooped, available and feasible. However, after the forward’s transfer to Anfield, Klopp acknowledged the purchase might affect any further business the Reds make in January and that, as a result, he doesn’t plan to “pump the cash” and “play like Monopoly” in this month’s transfer window.
Liverpool seem to be unable to conduct business on a deal-by-deal basis as they must also take into account future business and the ripple effects of their long-term pursuit of long-term ambitions. When we consider the wider picture, we may presume that Gakpo would not currently be a Reds player if he had cost far more than the initial £37m.
By the same reasoning, the club would have acted if one of its alternate targets had been up for sale for such a pitiful sum. Liverpool appears content to wait until the summer to restructure their aging team.
It won’t help matters that their Premier League and Champions League teams are already expected to be full; Klopp suggested that this has also contributed to their lack of success.
The fact that their Premier League and Champions League squads are already set to be full won’t help matters, with Klopp suggesting this has also played a part in the Reds’ transfer stance.
It won’t help that their Premier League and Champions League rosters are already expected to be full; Klopp has suggested that this has also influenced the Reds’ transfer policy.
However, there is a very simple way for Liverpool to get over these obstacles and boost their domestic team, at the very least: just sign a target who is under 21.
Because they don’t have enough senior homegrown players to fill a full 25-man rota, the Reds are currently only able to name a 24-man Premier League squad. Despite this, they aren’t shorthanded because clubs are still allowed to choose Under-21 players without having to include them in their squad.
Stefan Bajcetic, Luke Chambers, Bobby Clark, Ben Doak, Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho, Curtis Jones, Calvin Ramsay, and Sepp van den Berg are all qualifying players who have been named in Klopp’s matchday squad at some point or another this season as a result. Under-21 players are those who were born on or after January 1, 2001.
Due to their persistent issues in the engine room, Liverpool has unavoidably been associated with a number of midfielders in recent weeks and months ahead of their anticipated revamp in 2023. Many of them still fall under the category of Under-21 players, thus they wouldn’t need to register in order to play in the Premier League.
Despite turning 22 this week, Enzo Fernandez of Benfica is still considered an Under-21s player. Meanwhile, Kouadio Kone of Borussia Monchengladbach, Nice’s Khephren Thuram, and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Moises Caicedo are all still under 21 and would not require registration for this season.
Additionally, Valencia’s Yunus Musah would be eligible for the Under-21s next season as he is only 20 years old. Jude Bellingham, who is 19 years old, would not be required to register for the upcoming two seasons. It emphasizes how important the Borussia Dortmund player may be as an acquisition for Anfield given that he could also be considered home-grown.
Admittedly, European rules are slightly trickier, and not just because clubs are limited to making a maximum of three changes to their squads in January. UEFA rules state that Under-21s players have to have been on a club’s books for ‘any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday by the time he is registered with UEFA, or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year,’ to be registered on ‘List B’ and be eligible to play without being named in a club’s 25-man squad.
Therefore, in order to participate in the Champions League this year, any January signing would need to be listed in Liverpool’s roster. Given that the Reds have already bought Gakpo and will be missing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita for the first half of the season due to injuries, they will be without senior players even in the absence of any more new signings.
Even though it’s not ideal, Liverpool shouldn’t be discouraged from hiring now if at all possible. In the Champions League round of 16, they will ultimately play Real Madrid, the defending champion of Europe. Even if they regain their form before facing off against the La Liga heavyweights, there are only a select few European matches that any prospective addition or current Red may miss.
On the other hand, there is still half of the Premier League season to go, and Liverpool’s team needs to be strengthened if they are to have any chance of making it to the Champions League next season.
As a result, the Reds could sign midfielders to help them out without having to worry about Premier League registration issues. Another concern is whether Liverpool will be able to sign such players in January and whether they will be available to do so.