Loris Karius to remain Liverpool No.1 after Reds were priced out of deals for Alisson and Jan Oblak
Get Liverpool FC updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe See our privacy notice Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Jurgen Klopp is ready to disappoint – and shock - Liverpool fans by reiterating his faith in Loris Karius as his number one.
And the Reds boss is prepared to back the under-fire keeper going into the new season, as he refuses to panic or over-react to the desire amongst the majority of the support to see him replaced.
The German coach takes his squad to Chester on Saturday for the first pre-season game of the summer, with Karius pencilled in to start, as new signings Naby Keita and Fabinho are also given a run-out.
Klopp understands may fans will be amazed at the prospect of Karius still in goal after his Champions' League final meltdown.
But the manager is insistent with NO target he rates currently available, there is no point in plunging into the transfer market just for the sake of it – and he will passionately argue that point with fans.
(Image: REUTERS)
(Image: Liverpool FC)
Liverpool HAVE targeted a keeper this summer. Yet they have simply been priced out of any move Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak, and Brazil number one Alisson.
Talks are not currently active over either player, and Roma keeper Alisson looks likely to head to Real Madrid.
For Klopp, that means only one thing – patience, and the need to remain calm.
It is the approach he adopted when it became apparent he would not land Virgil van Dijk last summer, after talks broke down with Southampton.
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
(Image: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
He refused to listen to calls demanding an alternative, which saw him going into the new season without a signing in defence – and that stance was justified when he landed van Dijk in January.
Faced with the same situation this summer, Klopp will adopt the same stance...and he is prepared to put his faith in Karius, along with Danny Ward as Simon Mignolet, rather than pay big money for a keeper he thinks is no better.
Many fans will be stunned by the manager's position, but Klopp is fully prepared to defend it if challenged. In particular, he will point to the form of Karius for the second half of the last campaign, right up until the Champions' League final.
(Image: UEFA/Getty)
(Image: REUTERS)
Klopp will also express his belief that the German keeper played well in the final against Madrid, UNTIL he was elbowed in the face by Sergio Ramos...a blow that tests later revealed left Karius with a serious concussion which lastest for several days.
The manager is known to be patient with players he has placed faith in, as he has shown with Dejan Lovren, who was demonised by fans but has won them over, and he believes the two errors in the final can be explained.
And unless things change with one of his main targets – which seems improbable at this stage – then he will go into the season with his current three keepers.
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
Liverpool have been linked with Barca's Jasper Cillessen, Dane Kaspar Schmeichel, Jiri Pavlenka of Werder Bremen, Thomas Strakosha and even Gianluigi Buffon, but the club and Klopp maintain they have ZERO interest in any of them.
Instead, the manager will refuse to panic and stand by Karius, Ward and Mignolet unless a main target becomes available at the right price.