‘Smart’ - Jurgen Klopp makes Liverpool transfer admission amid squad overhaul calls

Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Liverpool must recruit ‘smart’ in the summer transfer window.

But the Anfield boss reckons wholesale changes won’t be needed to ensure that the Reds are again challenging for silverware in the 2023-24 season.

Liverpool languish just eighth in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday’s clash against leaders Arsenal. Most would have expected it would be the Merseysiders rather than the London side who would be sitting at the summit in the business end of the season.

Results and performances have been found wanting throughout this term - with Klopp’s men crashing out of the Champions League at the first knockout stage, as well as not making it past the fourth round in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup respectively.

Replenishing the squad will be pivotal for Liverpool come the end of the campaign. Last summer, Arsenal purchased Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City, who have both proven key players in their title assault.

And while there have been some calls for the Reds to part ways with a host of their players, Klopp does not feel that’s necessary. He said: “The difference is whatever we do next year will never be enough from people’s point of view and your point of view (the media). But, yes, with smart recruitment we will improve - definitely. That is the plan.

“It is one of these moments where it is really not good that I am not native because I can’t explain it better in English. You get in this whirlwind and it sucks you in that direction. And all of a sudden it’s like: ‘Wow, where are we?’

“I am not a worse manager than last year, definitely not. It doesn’t mean the outcome is good enough, not at all. But I’m not worse - and the players are not worse players. They just play worse. That’s definitely the case. We cannot make 24 changes and say: ‘Here we go’ - not even 10 - but it is just that we have to make changes, smart changes, and then we go again. We have other moments when we think about what happens next year, but this is not the moment.”

Jude Bellingham is Liverpool’s top target while Chelsea pair Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher have also been linked.