Jurgen Klopp's sour grapes: We don't really want Sancho, Haaland nor Mbappe

Liverpool have had a miserable season. It was unexpected, to say the least. They won the Champions League in 2019 and the long-awaited Premier League in 2020. And in 2021 - nothing. Inconsistent form, injuries to their best players, and progress of other teams all combined to leave the Reds far below the new champions Manchester City. Not only they've given up the Premier League crown with next to no fight, but they are likely going to miss out on a Champions League spot again.

And after such a miserable season, Jurgen Klopp has decided that he doesn't need to add quality to his squad. Missing on a Champions League spot also means less income, less revenue and less money to invest in new players. The manager who was never shy to splash out and buy the best players the money can buy says he doesn't need to sign big names.

Is it a coincidence that he's chosen to preach frugality at the same time his transfer budget has been slashed?

Asked if Liverpool will be breaking the bank ahead of next season, Klopp said that he'd only look to sign new faces if some of his current players decide they want to leave.

"We can never really plan early. Not playing Champions League doesn't help, obviously, but it's not our biggest problem. The market will be bizarre. I hear about huge money moves. Is Kylian Mbappe going? Haaland? Sancho? I don't see that happening a lot because the football world is still not in the same place it was before. The situation is better than I would have thought a year ago, but everyone feels the consequences of the financial crisis. We will see how the market will develop, but it certainly won't be an early market."

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Coaching his current players and getting them to perform well when it matters is more important than piling up more expensive stars.

"I am not interested in being the coach of the best team in the world. I am interested in being the coach of a team that can beat the best team in the world. If two or three of them play in our league, then we will try to top them. And if we beat some of the others as well, we will have enough points to win the championship again."

Injuries to important players plagued Liverpool all season. Klopp reckons that his team will show its true colours once everyone is back to full fitness. To the German tactician, welcoming recovered players back to training is just like making new signings.

"We have to use our situation better than we did this year. Yes, we had bad luck, definitely, but this was not a season where we could not have become a champion. No chance. But could we have had five, six, seven more points, with the same situation we have been in the whole time? Yes. Getting the players back makes us better. These are our first transfers. We don't know exactly when it will happen, but it will happen."

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The market is strange, the money is tight, but should Liverpool still be going for world-class signings in the coming months? Come on, Jurgen, don't say you don't want to!