Jurgen Klopp has defended Liverpool’s transfer business during the January window.
Having signed Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton early in the month, the club reluctantly allowed Philippe Coutinho to complete a move to Barcelona. Following this, Klopp also sanctioned Daniel Sturridge’s loan move to West Brom for the rest of the season.
The departure of the England striker left many Liverpool supporters unhappy, many of them questioning the decision given no attacking players were brought in as replacements.
Gary Neville, speaking on Sky Sport’s The Debate show, also criticised Liverpool for allowing Sturridge to leave, pointing out that it leaves Klopp in a difficult situation if one of his attacking players were to pick up an injury:
“People are saying ‘Sturridge isn’t playing anymore, it’s not a big loss’,” Neville said. “I’m looking at that list of ins and outs and it’s gone under the radar.
“[Say] Firmino gets injured for two months. Liverpool are in the Champions League and are trying to get into the top four… [with] Danny Ings and Solanke. Were they wise to let him go? It just seemed a crazy one for me for a massive risk.”
Speaking at his press conference on Friday, Klopp insisted that he and the club had done what they felt was right at the time. He also stressed that in Sturridge’s case, the player had wanted to leave
“Would I have preferred to keep Philippe Coutinho? Of course but I thought it was sensible to do it (sell him).
“The players who went on loan made sense. Lazar didn’t play for a long time, same with Flanno. As for Daniel (Sturridge), he wanted to leave.”
After returning to winning ways on Tuesday with a 3-0 victory away at Huddersfield, Liverpool host top four rivals Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
