Though Liverpool “don’t really have a problem” with unsettled players at this stage, Jurgen Klopp has called for a review of the English transfer deadline.
Introduced ahead of last season, the transfer window now closes ahead of the Premier League campaign, with clubs unable to sign players beyond August 8 this year.
But confounding the original plans, the top leagues in the likes of Spain, Germany, Italy and France are still able to conduct business, which opens up the prospect of players swapping England for a new venture abroad.
The Reds are in a comfortable position at this stage, with Dejan Lovren the only subject of real speculation, but regardless Klopp has criticised the current setup in England.
“I don’t care when it closes, I only think it must close at the same time. When that is I don’t care,” he said on Friday.
“That was the idea in the first place, when they spoke about ‘let’s finish it before the season starts’.
“Then everyone knows and can plan with the squad, that’s a good idea.
“But then only England did it and all the rest didn’t do it, and that makes no sense; in that moment England should have said ‘OK, it’s only for all or nobody’.
“[Keeping it this way] really makes no sense. If somebody could explain to me what the benefit is for the Premier League, what is it?
“We don’t really have a problem, but other teams, key players are still ‘on the market’, kind of, and anything can happen.
“You want to have the team not only together, you want to have the team together and focused on the future.
“That’s not possible as long as there is a door open.”
Klopp has only used 14 outfield players in Liverpool’s three competitive games so far, with the likes of Lovren, Xherdan Shaqiri, Adam Lallana or youngsters Rhian Brewster and Harvey Elliott yet to feature.
This has led to Shaqiri in particular to be considered misused, with the winger himself vocal in his frustration at a lack of game time.
But continuing his argument against England’s early deadline, Klopp highlighted the upcoming period as one in which clubs are required to utilised their full squad.
“These weeks now are not the most intense weeks of the season, so you need the squad from matchday five, with the full squad if you don’t have big injury problems,” he added.
“Because then we play League Cup in one-and-a-half weeks’ time, I think, then Champions League and Premier League obviously.
“That means then you need everybody in the squad.
“But in this moment, where everybody’s not used maybe like he wants to be used, we have the problem where there’s always somebody asking ‘but he’s not playing that much, don’t you think it makes sense [to sell]?’.
“That really makes no sense, and we are not really involved in it!
“For us it’s not a big problem, but it is for other clubs, and I don’t understand why this decision is not already reviewed at least and said ‘OK, that was a good idea, but didn’t work out, so let’s change it again’.”
The transfer window closes across the majority of Europe on September 2.
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