Coach Jurgen Klopp's farewell marks the end of an era at Liverpool. "I'm running out of energy. This team has great potential and good age. It's not the task I want to do, but I believe 100% that it's the right thing" - said the German strategist. .
Klopp helped the "Red Brigade" win the Premier League after 30 years of waiting and win the Champions League once. Besides, there are other titles that Klopp left behind at Anfield such as the British Super Cup, European Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup...
Under Klopp's leadership, Liverpool truly became a force in England and Europe. During the reign of the German "captain", The Kop spent a total of 934 million Euros on transfers, including big contracts such as Darwin Nunez, Van Dijk, Szoboszlai, Alisson, Luis Diaz, Fabinho... In During that same period, only eight other teams in Europe spent more money than Klopp's team.
In contrast to Klopp, new Liverpool coach Arne Slot is quite quiet in the transfer process. Until now, the "Red Brigade" has not brought in any new recruits in the 2024 summer market. Instead, Slot had to see Joel Matip, Adrian San Miguel and Thiago Alcantara leave Anfield.
Billy Hogan, Liverpool's CEO, admitted: "We are going through a post-Klopp reset. The priority will be to get the best versions of last season's new recruits (Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch) and promising young stars (Quansah, Jones, Elliott, Bradley)".
However, despite that, the Dutch strategist still did not show any signs of wavering. "I'm very happy, we have a very good squad, but I think it would be surprising for everyone if we didn't sign anyone. We are waiting for the players to come back from vacation and sign contracts. with the right players" - Slot said.
The Kop's main goal is to strengthen 3 positions, including a center back, a defensive midfielder and a wing striker. However, this is not an easy task for the Anfield team.
"Sporting director Richard Hughes and I are trying to improve the team, but it's not easy because the standards are very high. We have very good players" - admitted the former Feyenoord coach.
However, Slot is having a positive pre-season with Liverpool. They won 3 consecutive victories, against Real Betis, Arsenal and Manchester United respectively.
Of course, Liverpool may encounter serious problems in the near future. Three of their key players will have their contracts expire in 2025, including Mohamed Salah , Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold.
"My only concern is to have the players' full commitment this season" - Richard Hughes added.
It feels like, instead of shopping for new players, Liverpool's immediate goal is to help Slot adapt as quickly as possible and take advantage of the foundation left by Klopp.
