Liverpool have to start working on their player recruitment plans for the summer transfer window regardless of their Champions League status next season, manager Juergen Klopp said, highlighting the spending power of other Premier League clubs.
Liverpool lost 5-2 to Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash and they are eighth in the league, seven points adrift of the fourth spot which secures Champions League qualification, albeit with two games in hand.
“I’m sorry that I cannot guarantee Champions League at this moment but we fight for it and it is not done yet,” Klopp told reporters.
“But it is tricky and it will be a late decision. We have to start work earlier before we know where we will end up position-wise and European competition-wise. These things are clear.”
Liverpool are six-times Champions League winners, last lifting the trophy in 2018-19.
“I think we played five years in a row in the Champions League, which is massive money, and went to the final three times in that time, which is also massive from a money point of view,” added Klopp, whose team play at Crystal Palace later on Saturday.
“We built a stand, we built a training ground, and the club is in a really good place, but around us obviously a few people (clubs) are speeding up a little bit and you cannot ignore that. We cannot ignore these kind of things.”
Liverpool’s American owner John Henry has said there are no plans to sell the club but they are open to investment, even as Manchester United explore a sale while Chelsea and Newcastle United are already under wealthy ownerships.
