Jurgen Klopp admits it would have taken "crazy money" to land Liverpool transfer targets after Philippe Coutinho exit
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Jurgen Klopp admits it would have taken "crazy money" for him to land one of Liverpool's January targets.
The Reds opted not to replace Philippe Coutinho following his £142m move to Barcelona.
The likes of Thomas Lemar were linked with a move to Anfield but Liverpool were put off by Monaco's £90m valutation, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Liverpool also tried and failed to convince RB Leipzig to bring forward Naby Keita's summer switch.
Adam Lallana’s latest injury setback didn’t alter the club’s plans and Klopp insists with the options available it was the right decision to wait until the summer to make further signings.
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“Unfortunately our business is only from the outside that easy. You miss a player for a week and you think ‘okay, we need another player’,” Klopp said.
“Yes, we could have done something. But we need really the right thing. The right thing now, you don’t get. The 100% right thing, only for completely crazy money that really makes no sense. I’m not even sure that would work. And in the summer it looks different.
“That’s how it is. To do something just to have any solution that makes no real sense, to be honest.
“People obviously ask ‘bring him in’ because someone is injured and you need somebody else, but then the other one is coming again and you weaken both or the third one, it makes no sense.
“In this situation, you really need to stay cool. It’s more difficult when you’ve lost two games but you need to be serious still.”
Klopp has previously cited the return of Lallana, who missed the first half of the season with a thigh injury, as one reason why there was no panic to replace Coutinho.
(Image: PA)
However, the England international recently suffered a fresh setback against Swansea and has missed the past two matches with a groin problem.
Lallana is also a doubt for Sunday’s crucial Premier League clash with Tottenham at Anfield but Klopp still believes he will have a big part to play over the coming months.
“It’s really unlucky,” Klopp added.
“It was a really serious injury in the summer. Because of Adam’s quality and attitude in training it looks immediately like we can put him in, (but) physical-wise he’s not fit.
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“The two things that happened after his big injury were in the 10 or 15 minutes after he came on. From nil to 100 in a second, and that’s maybe what caused the problem.
“We really tried to be sensible with it, to do the right thing. But it didn’t work, twice. It’s really not a big thing (the latest injury), three games is like not being injured.
“He’s maybe available for Tottenham, and if not then he’ll have missed three games. That’s really okay but of course it’s not cool. The body needs to adapt again to the intensity.”