Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his side are in no desperate need of a new midfielder despite Thiago Alcantara's injury.
The Spanish midfielder made a slow start to life at Anfield, only making 24 league appearances during his first season at the club.
But he found his feet last campaign and was ever-present in the Liverpool midfield alongside Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.
Advert
The 31-year-old suffered a serious hamstring problem in the opening-day draw at Fulham.
Liverpool fans have been unhappy with the lack of depth in the Reds engine room, and Thiago's 6-week layoff certainly won’t have helped the cause.
Last time the Reds faced an injury crisis during the 2020/21 season they almost missed out on Champions League football, finishing 4th place on the final day of the season.
Despite this, Klopp believes there is no need to panic and had this to say during his pre-match press conference:
Advert
“I’m happy with the strength, size and quality of my squad,”
“We have injuries, that’s how it is. Now it’s a question of how long will the players be out.
Advert
“There are different solutions for it. One of them, there are plenty I would say, one of them is the transfer market.
“The transfer market only makes sense if you can bring in the right player. The ‘right’ player, not ‘a’ player.”
“It’s easy to bring a player in but that doesn’t help. If you bring the right player then it could make sense.”
“We always would have done that from the first day of the transfer window, from the first day of pre-season but in some cases it’s not possible and in other cases it’s extremely difficult.”
Advert
"That’s why I don’t have to think a lot about it. If something’s not possible why should I constantly think, ‘'If not, we cannot exist.' We can. All the other solutions are inside the squad.”
"If there would be the right player and the opportunity, we would have done it. We would do it but I don’t see it because we had a lot of conversations and it doesn’t look like something will happen.”
The Reds have been linked with a host of midfielders this summer, including Matheus Nunes from Sporting Lisbon and Florian Neuhas of Borussia Monchengladbach.
But reports have suggested that Liverpool are waiting for the opportunity to sign long-term target Jude Bellingham, who is expected to leave the club next summer.
Advert
The 19-year-old Englishmen is expected to be a direct replacement for club captain Jordan Henderson, with the midfielder beginning to hit the twilight years of his career.
Topics: Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool Transfer News & Rumours, Thiago Alcantara