Jurgen Klopp has stressed his desire to bolster his squad “internally,” and named eight teenagers who are in line for an increased role at Liverpool as a result.
As a well-run club, the Reds are approaching the financial landscape in the wake of football’s three-month suspension sensibly, with no major outlays expected.
The impact of such an extended period without games, and even longer without fans, is significant, regardless of the additional prize money of winning the Premier League, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
While Liverpool are still likely to make some signings, a lot remains up in the air at this stage, and assessing the situation, Klopp said that “the planning is ongoing without knowing.”
“Nobody knows exactly how big the bill will be,” he told reporters on the financial toll of coronavirus.
“I think it’s completely normal in this moment that we wait a little bit longer with some decisions or just say: ‘We pause and try it again with this [squad]’.
“We should not start taking for granted [that] it all will be fine.”
Klopp added that “it’s just not likely that it will be the most busy summer in the world,” with Liverpool already having opted out of a big-money deal to sign Timo Werner, and said his squad is “not a squad you have to change.”
Instead, his current focus is on promoting from within, which is a luxury afforded to the Reds between now and the end of the season due to their record-breaking title win with seven games to spare.
This is likely to see more opportunities for a host of teenagers in the coming weeks, and assessing the future of his squad Klopp named eight in particular.
“What we want is to create our transfers internally,” he continued.
“So now, the first glimpses of Neco Williams. Bring the boys up. Curtis, Harvey, Ki-Jana, Sepp, Yasser, Leighton, Jake Cain: all these boys have done really well.
“We want to strengthen this squad and this squad is strong. The problem is how do you improve a strong squad in the transfer market?
“It works with money, obviously, but it never works only with money. You have to be creative and we try to be creative. We try to find solutions internally.
“And there is still a lot to come. We have three or four players who can make big, big steps.”
Williams, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott have been permanent fixtures in the first-team squad for most of the season, but now Cain, Leighton Clarkson, Ki-Jana Hoever, Sepp van den Berg and Yasser Larouci also appear to have stepped up on a full-time basis.
They were all involved in the title celebrations on last Thursday night, along with another teenager Klopp omitted in Paul Glatzel.
Glatzel’s absence from the list comes due his recent recovery from a long-term injury, and is unlikely to have been deliberate on the manager’s part.
They are all hugely exciting talents, operating in a variety of different roles: in Williams, Van den Berg, Hoever and Larouci, there is an entire back four, with Clarkson, Cain and Jones best in midfield and Elliott in attack.
Add in Glatzel as a possible option up front along with the returning Rhian Brewster, and Caoimhin Kelleher as third-choice goalkeeper, and there is a strong core of youth at Melwood.
The likes of Vitezslav Jaros, Jakub Ojrzynski, Billy Koumetio, James Norris, James Balagizi, Tom Hill and Layton Stewart could be in consideration in the future.
But for now, it is clear that Klopp has eight players in mind when it comes to chances before the end of the season and then beyond.
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