Jurgen Klopp has urged the Liverpool supporters to trust the club’s decision of not signing Alex Teixeira from Shakhtar Donetsk in the January transfer window.
The Reds reportedly made a bid of £38million for the Brazilian midfielder, but Shakhtar were unwilling to negotiate for an offer below £50million. Last week the 26-year-old disclosed that he was interested in a move to Anfield, but he’ll have stay at the Ukranian club until the summer as the deal fell through.
“It’s very, very important that, yes, you can trust us,” Jurgen Klopp said. “It was a common decision [on Teixeira]. We said, ‘We can’t play this game until the end’.
“We made offers, I won’t say too much about that, but they were realistic, absolutely, with the premium of it being January, the Premier League, all the plusses you have when you make negotiations.
“But it was a case of, ‘If you don’t want it, OK, we can’t change the situation, both for now and the future’.
The former Borussia Dortmund manager stated that the club wanted to deal respectfully and assured that the Merseyside giants have no shortage of cash.
“It’s not that we haven’t got money or anything, but you have to work respectfully and responsibly. That’s what we do. We will do things, for sure. Not in this window, but we will. It is like it is and it’s not you should buy and sell, buy and sell.”
“We have enough strikers if they are all fit. So we have four strikers – although some are injured – plus Roberto [Firmino],” he said.
“If we were to find a solution in the offence that helps us not for three weeks, but three months or more, I would say OK.
“If we had, then we would’ve done it – but only for the right price, the normal price and not something else.
“The situation that we had wasn’t too easy but gave us the chance to show more faith and trust in young players than normal.”
Alex Texeira is adamant that is ready to crank it up a notch and would like to join the Premier League in the summer, if not in the January transfer window. He aims to establish himself in the Brazil squad and according to him, he can only achieve it if he shows his quality on the big stage.
“I would like to move in this transfer window and have told them [Shakhtar] that. They have received a very good offer, and they are working on a solution.
“But if I don’t go now then I will leave in the summer. After six years in Europe and with Shakhtar we are ready to move, and I have spoken to my wife and daughter.
“I am ready, and I know that I will grow up a lot there. I am aware that two big clubs such as Liverpool and Chelsea are interested, but I haven’t given my word to either of them.”
“I am not ruling out other leagues, but I do want to play in the Premier League. In my mind, it is the strongest in the world. I want a challenge and to further my career there.
“My aim is to move to a big club so that I can well there and get a place in the Brazil squad.
“Everyone knows that it is hard to achieve, and I need to leave here to achieve that goal.”
Liverpool will have to potentially make 25 outings in the next 85 days, and thus, it will be a stern test for the head coach and the players. It will be a big challenge for Klopp to rotate his players in order to keep them as injury-free as possible.