Jurgen Klopp has warned that focusing on one target too much can lead to a lack of alternatives, in the same week that Liverpool's pursuit of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham was reported to have ended.
"When you have a budget and then someone tells you the prices then you can judge the budget or you increase the budget. What can you do?
The decision about about a budget comes from our owners and the other decision they have to come from us, so if the budget is the budget then you have to do what you have to do.
That’s not that difficult, I don’t understand it. There are a lot of things that are important in football, the budget is important and then timing is important, knowing when things can happen is important. Guarantees are important, if we go for it will we get it is important.
If you put too much focus on something you only might get, all the rest the market could be gone theoretically.
These kind of things. These are important things. It’s a normal thing. It’s much easier to sit in your chair in the moment and judge, say ‘that’s not enough’ than [be] on the other side to decide what you use the money for. That’s it."
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An insight into negotiations
The Reds manager gave an insight into how he goes about his transfer dealings, once again emphasising that it is not a case of one target or bust.
"The first thing is when you are convinced about something and you want to do it then you need to create a feeling that when the process is happening it can work out.
If you don’t have that feeling then it just holds you back. You cannot fight for Kylian Mbappe from now on and say, ‘that’s the only offensive player we want’ and you realise then he goes to Real Madrid or stays at PSG, as an example. That makes no sense.
The prices you maybe know or maybe you don’t and prices change over times but that’s it.
We have to make sure, we have to make decisions for the team, for the club and we cannot dream, we cannot be angry if we don’t get this or we don’t get that. If there’s no chance for it, why should we do that? We cannot discuss things you always want to discuss all the time in public, what kind of situation would that be?
I react like a supporter or like you and it is, ‘how can they do this, how can they do that, he doesn’t get this, or he doesn’t get that’. Who cares? We have to sort it. That’s all that we have to do.
For us it is not fun, like ‘oh my god they sign him, great’. That’s our life, our business and what we really have to put right. It doesn’t help if I ask for something and I don’t get it and I say, ‘I don’t want it anymore with him or with him’. That’s rubbish, that’s not OK.
I’m too a much a professional. You are in this business, you make sure that’s what we can do, fine, work with it. Done, that’s it, make the best of it. Go about and go on the training ground.
In this moment it looks like if we sign this player, everything will be fine, if we sign this player then ‘oh my god, do we really want to play football again?’.
Based on other seasons I understand that but imagine now if i would fall into that trap as well and say, ‘these guys I don’t want to see them anymore and lets make 12 changes and yes we have to build a new team’. It’s not like that.
It’s not that heated. It’s a normal situation. Like it always was. You are interested in a player, you think about a player, you have to check if it is possible or not, it’s not possible."
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Not a believer in speculation
The German revealed that he does not really follow speculation or what has been written in the media, but also his frustration about the prices that are often quoted being wide of the mark.
“No why should I. It’s just in general, it’s no problem. I have no clue what was written this week, I didn’t follow what was written. The world is full of news, I didn’t want to criticise, it was not my intention. The world we are living in is full of news, and you know how often left and right it is off the truth.
“The prices are very often not even close, at one point they might be right, but most of the time they are not. That is just the situation, fine it is part of the business."
He also insisted that he is not frustrated with the financial restrictions that plague Liverpool, as opposed to the spending of clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.
“You know how the process is, what you want to know is as I sit here, am I angry that we can’t do this or that.
No I am not. I am not, I don’t agree all the time with everything we do…but I am employed here.
I am not here to be angry about things, that will work out or not work out. If I am angry we don’t all of a sudden have more money, or whatever, resources to do everything.
The way we did things in the past is the way we will do it in the future, that is the way. I cannot change that, and nobody could change that, by the way.
Bring in a new manager, he sits there, that’s the numbers, and here we go - that’s the situation.
It will not change. It is fine, we were pretty successful with that, it’s fine.
We did not win all four trophies last year, but it had nothing to do with the transfer market…that we didn’t sign enough players or whatever, that we didn’t bring this player or more is possible. So, that is the situation.
It is a heated thing, but now we see, there are 12 midfielders we could sign, stuff like this yeah, fine.
There are a lot of good players out there, honestly, yeah a lot of good players - and we are interested in all good players, and some of them, will end up here that’s all.
Every year we have had this discussion even in our best years. It was never enough, you have to do this and this - we did what we could do. That is how it is.
Again the situation is right - it is clear other clubs can do in some situations more than us - I am the wrong person to ask about that, but that’s it. I am always here explaining it, and that is the bit that is not so cool to be honest. It is not my money we are talking about."
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Can his side bounce back?
The 55-year-old insists that his team can be back fighting for the top honours, despite not having the financial might of some of their Premier League rivals.
"For us playing football to be successful, yes it must be possible, of course it is possible to rebuild in three years. Of course it is better to play much better football than we did this year, it must be possible.
But other teams have the opportunity to improve as well, so that is a completely normal thing.
So if you are first in the table or second in the table then obviously it is not a bad situation.
So we are what, eighth, so we bring in new players, and if we are fifth then we are already better than this year, though that is obviously not our aim.
So yes, we can become a team again that nobody wants to play against, and that is the starting basis.
We don’t have to be the best football team to win the league, you don’t have to be the best football team to win anything - you just have to make sure you agree on the way you want to play and go from there, and make something special of it.
That’s what you have to be and all the rest is always the same."
When asked whether he could move to one of those clubs and work with a much higher budget, his response was emphatic.
“This is my club. Nothing. This is my club. You want to suggest I quit here and wait for the next top job?"
