Ian McGarry has claimed there is an ongoing ‘friction’ between Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and the club’s hierarchy over the upcoming transfer window.
Speaking on The Transfer Window podcast, McGarry revealed there is a difference of opinion at Anfield regarding how the club will act in the transfer window.
Klopp is reportedly keen to bring in defensive reinforcement following potentially season-ending injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez. However, the officials at the club want to hang fire and see how the Reds cope with the current squad. McGarry outlined:
“We did report on the podcast three weeks ago that there was a bit of friction between Klopp and the transfer committee/board at the club with regards to recruiting in January. That, our understanding, remains, and that Klopp is still intent, or certainly, wants to recruit a centre-back in January, and possibly one more player as well.”
Michael Edwards has become something of a cult hero on Merseyside, a recruitment specialist who has a knack for squeezing out the best possible deal for the club
However, on this occasion, he and Klopp are believed to be at loggerheads, as McGarry explained: “Duncan (Castles), your information is that their director of football, Michael Edwards, has decided on a different policy and that is that given the performances of certain players, that they will suck it and see.”
READ LIVERPOOL VERDICT
The working relationship between Klopp and those behind the scenes at Anfield has always seemed a healthy one, so any murmurings of a disagreement in direction come as a little bit of a surprise.
The German’s desire for recruitment is perfectly understandable given the sheer amount of injuries his squad has suffered.
Albeit a small sample size, the new central defensive partnership of Joel Matip and Fabinho have coped well thus far and it is possible to see why Edwards and FSG may not want to spend money in a notoriously tricky mid-season juncture to get good deals done.
However, it’s a long, tough season with just two senior centre-backs – one of whom is a converted midfielder – and therefore the Reds must dip into the January market.
