Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed his thought about players who prioritize moving to Champions League clubs over other factors as their transfer target in his pursuit of Dortmund star Bellingham.
The Liverpool boss has been longing to sign the Borussia Dortmund midfielder, Bellingham for a long time now with the teenager expected to be Klopp’s number-one summer target.
However, the race to sign the England international player who had a stellar World Cup exhibition in Qatar has become fierce with current Champions League winner Real Madrid and other Premier League clubs in pursuit.
Meanwhile, a bottleneck in Liverpool’s quest for Bellingham could be their failure to qualify for next year’s Champions League as the club currently occupy sixth place in the Premier League, with seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
It is unusual for elite footballers like Bellingham to choose clubs knowing they are not participating in the Champions League Campaign.
And more common is that of Real Madrid star Eden Hazard who, like Bellingham, was chased by all of Europe’s biggest clubs but only settled down with Chelsea once he knew they had qualified for the elite competition.
However, Jurgen Klopp has revealed his viewpoint about not being interested in players who are only attracted to short-term gains; favors moving to a Champions League club.
Klopp said: ”If a player would prefer to go to a club who are in the Champions League this year but maybe not next year, I am not sure I would want them, to be honest.”
Ultimately, Klopp accepts being in Europe’s elite club competition is a great incentive and believes his sides are still in the race when Liverpool returns to league action at Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
He added: ”I want to be in the Champions League all the time and 100 percent we are one of the contenders for the next few years.”
With 22 points and a match left to equal the aggregate 15 fixtures with fourth-place Tottenham, who currently has 29 points, Klopp admitted top four is his main target and believes Liverpool is still one of the potential contenders for it.
Klopp said: ”The top four is our main target”.
“Fifteen points behind the leader’s Arsenal, you can’t ask if we will be champions.”
”For the moment we still have two pathways to qualify and as long as that is the case, I see us as proper contenders.”
But this season has not been rosy for Liverpool and the fans are expecting much better as they head into the festive period and beyond.
Moreover, losing 3-2 to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup competition was not welcoming and Liverpool fans will hope the club proceeds with their Premier League campaign in a revived style.
Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp claimed he has seen ‘super positive’ signs from his players during their mid-season training camp in Dubai.
Liverpool went into the Qatar World Cup break with victories over Tottenham and Southampton, and Klopp is now confident following the training camp in Dubai that the Reds can pick up their powerful form immediately.
The Reds traveled to Dubai during the World Cup break to pick up their fitness levels and play some glorified friendly games.
A loss to Lyon and a victory over Milan was a mixed return in terms of results but the Liverpool boss will not flinch over it.
Klopp said, “All the signs I got in the Dubai training camp were super positive.”
“I trust in our process and the things we do. It was completely different from pre-season. Completely different. In all the games I saw we were going in the right direction.”
“I am positive we can pick up where we left off rather than go back to the start of the season.”
It’s high time Liverpool stopped the trend of being impressive for a couple of games and then being flat again; the Reds need a constant run of good results to get back into the top four if they truly mean business.
Let’s hope Liverpool’s preparations in Dubai help as they will head off to Villa Park in a Premier League clash today. Kickoff time is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
