According to Jurgen Klopp, he is not “too loyal” to his players and will only quit Liverpool if necessary.
The Reds’ season has been underwhelming thus far, which was made worse by recent sloppy Premier League losses against Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Despite claims that there has been insufficient replenishing of a team that has been one of the most successful in Europe in recent seasons, Liverpool has a number of key players who have been with the club for most of Klopp’s seven years on Merseyside.
“I heard I’m too loyal, but I am not too loyal. The problem is too complex. If you can then go out and bring in another player to replace him, then it makes sense,” manager Klopp said at a press conference. “But if you cannot bring anyone in, you cannot take anyone out.
“I am not too loyal. At [Borussia] Dortmund, it was clear when I left [in 2015], I said ‘something has to change here’. It is a different situation.
“Either the manager’s position changes or a lot of other things change. So, as far as I am concerned unless someone tells me, I will not go.
“I will be here for as long as I am wanted. If no one tells me to go, I will not go. So that means maybe there is a point where we have to change other stuff. We will see that, but that is something for the future. Like summer or whatever. Not now.
“I have space and time to think about it, we have to play better football now.”
Tuesday’s FA Cup third-round replay between Liverpool and Wolves at Molineux is a crucial matchup for Klopp’s club, which won the cup the previous year.
Klopp acknowledged that although it is doubtful Liverpool would make another move in the January transfer window after acquiring Dutch forward Cody Gakpo from PSV, it is not for lack of ambition.
The club’s supporters have been clamoring to recruit another midfielder, as Thiago Alcantara is the only one who has been signed on a permanent basis since 2018.
“We look outside as well,” Klopp said. “It’s not that we are stubborn and think that’s it, we’ll go with these boys until 2050 or whatever. That’s not how we see it, it’s all about what we can do and these kind of things – and what you want to do. More important is what you can do. It’s always the same, each year.
“I cannot change my answers – if the solutions are out there for us, available and doable, of course we would bring in players to help. But we have an existing squad as well and we are underperforming, definitely, I know that. But I cannot sit here and blame everyone else, the players, all the time. It is my responsibility.
“We have limited options, but we have players with contracts here, they are not available. But if we bring in players, we cannot bring them all in the Premier League and Champions League list.”