Liverpool counting on the status quo
Klopp convinced that securing key players' future and return of the Kop will spur Reds
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LONDON • Liverpool will fight "for everything" this season but manager Jurgen Klopp expects it to be a really tough battle between several sides as his club bid to regain the Premier League title that Manchester City reclaimed last term.
While new signings, unlike their main rivals, have been kept to a minimum - France Under-21 defender Ibrahima Konate has been their only major signing, moving from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig for £35 million (S$65.6 million) - Liverpool have instead focused on getting key players to sign new contracts.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and notably, Virgil van Dijk, yesterday agreed to new deals.
The Dutch defender, 30, suffered a season-ending injury last October and his absence was pinpointed as the main reason the Reds' title defence floundered.
But he has returned to fitness, playing a full role in pre-season alongside centre-back Joe Gomez, who also suffered a premature end to his campaign in November.
Van Dijk, whose deal runs to 2025, will spend his best years at Anfield and there is no better place he would rather be.
"Since day one when I joined the club (in 2018), I felt so much appreciation from the fans and from my teammates and the staff, that I could be a very important member of this football club," he said.
"It has been going well. Unfortunately last season, for me personally, has been a season to forget, to learn from and take with me. But I have enjoyed my time here and will keep enjoying it in the next couple of years together with all of you."
Klopp is convinced securing the quartet's future will prove to be critical as his side seek to rediscovering the panache that saw them crowned champions for the first time in three decades last year.
However, the German yesterday admitted that with City, Manchester United and Chelsea turning heads in the transfer market, it would only make the Premier League even more difficult to win.
Ahead of today's league opener at newly promoted Norwich, he said: "I'm not surprised (that other teams have spent big), because these clubs don't depend on this kind of thing (the impact of the coronavirus pandemic).
"We all know the situations at Chelsea, City... What's happening at United, I don't know - I don't know how they do it. We have our way and it's always been the same since I joined. We can spend, we're allowed to spend the money we earn - that's what we always did.
"I'm not sure if it can get any more intense for all the rest. We will see. Chelsea aren't hiding their ambitions, Man United aren't, City aren't. We don't want to hide our ambitions, we want to fight for everything... It will be an interesting league again."
Liverpool are likely to maintain their conservative approach this transfer window, so Klopp will be banking on the roar of the Kop to give his side a lift in key moments.
Anfield has a reputation as one of the most intimidating stadiums in Europe but that vocal atmosphere was sorely missed with matches the past 18 months largely played behind closed doors.
On the return of the 12th man, Klopp said: "We have so many things which you can't sign. You can't sign the atmosphere we can create in our stadium, you can't sign Anfield, you can't sign our anthem. That's what we have to use obviously."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
