2 Feb 2016

Klopp Confirms: Liverpool 'made offers' to sign 'incredible' €70m goal-machine who wanted Anfield move

Same sh^t, different year. For the second season running, Liverpool have neglected to sign any new first-team players during the January transfer window, and just like last year, the club failed to address the acute need for a prolific goalscorer. Granted, the Reds made a strong attempt to sign Shakhtar Donetsk attacker Alex Teixeira (who wanted a move to Anfield), but the deal couldn't be completed, and Jurgen Klopp has now explained why the proposed transfer fell through.

When asked today about Liverpool's failed move for the allegedly 'incredible' Teixeira, Klopp told reporters:

“It was a common decision [to pull out of the Teixeira deal]. We made offers...but it was a case of ‘if you don’t want it okay...do what you want’. It’s not that we haven’t got money, but you have to work respectfully and responsibly".

Over the weekend, General Shakhtar General Director Sergei Palkin slapped a ludicrous €70m transfer fee on Teixeira, and with that in mind, I sincerely doubt many Reds fans are critical of the club for pulling out of this particular deal (!)

However, it's been evident for *months* that Liverpool desperately need one or two prolific goalscorers, so why were there (seemingly) no credible back-up options (for Teixeira) in place?

* According to Palkin: "Liverpool stopped after an offer of €32m and a €4m bonus". Clearly, money was available, but just like the failed deals of yesteryear (i.e. Alexis Sanchez), it appears that the club put all their eggs in one transfer basket.

* In my view, if Liverpool were open to spending money, 2-3 viable transfers target should've been identified months ago to cover the (very probable) eventuality that the club may be priced out of a deal for its number-one target.

Bottom line: Liverpool needed at least ONE prolific goalscorer in this window; money was available, but once again, the club spectacularly failed to seal a transfer. Last year, this basically killed the club's season. For example, after the January 2015 window closed, the team:

* Scored ONE goal or less in 14 of the remaining 22 games (63% of matches).

* Scored only 12 goals in the final 13 games (less than one goal per game).

Clearly, Liverpool did not learn from last season's fiasco, and now history is primed to repeat itself. And please don't give me the excuse that it's hard to sign quality, reasonably priced players in January. The Reds signed Suarez, Coutinho, and Sturridge during January transfer windows, which blows that theory out of the water.

Now, to salvage the season, Klopp will have to rely on the most goal-shy set of attacking players in recent Liverpool history. The club's top scorer in the league is on six piffling goals after six months of the season, which illustrates the scale and depth of the problem.

Klopp also claimed today that Liverpool fans should 'trust' the club, and insisted that Coutinho, Origi, Sturridge, and Skrtel are like 'four new signings'.

Give me a break.

Coutinho and Origi have six goals between them in the league so far; Sturridge is unlikely to play consistently for the rest of the season, and Skrtel (who is not expected to score) has the same number of league goals this season as Lallana (!)

New signings? Same as the old signings.

Author: Jaimie K


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