Jurgen Klopp aims dig at Chelsea and Moises Caicedo
Jurgen Klopp has hinted that Liverpool were «lucky» to miss out on the signing of the out-of-form Moises Caicedo during the summer and ended up with Wataru Endo instead.
Liverpool had been embroiled in a lengthy transfer tug-of-war with Chelsea over Caicedo during the summer transfer window, with the holding midfielder eventually joining the Blues for a British record £115m fee. The Reds had first agreed a £111m fee before Chelsea upped their offer.
Speaking at a test event for the newly-refurbished Anfield Road stand, manager Klopp discussed the saga and admitted he felt Liverpool were «lucky» to miss out on their top target.
«The summer we had a few strange things happen in the transfer market but here, between us, I can say, 'My god, were we lucky, eh?'» said Klopp.
«We didn't know that in that moment and it didn't feel like it in that moment, but yeah, I'm really happy that it worked out, but you never know before.
»We obviously realised that other central defensive midfielders don't want to join Liverpool, you see what happens, and then we found [Wataru] Endo. He's an exceptional player."
Although Liverpool missed out on Caicedo, the Reds did manage to sign four central midfielders during the summer transfer window. Klopp's side forked out almost £150m to completely overhaul that area of the pitch by signing Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Endo — the latter of which was recruited immediately after Caicedo went to Chelsea.
While this new-look midfield has helped Liverpool to the top of the Premier League table, Chelsea's midfield led by Caicedo has struggled terribly during the first half of the 2023/24 season.
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