Jurgen Klopp has taken a cheeky swipe at former transfer targets Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo, claiming that Liverpool were ‘lucky’ to miss out on the pair.
Following the defensive midfield duo’s move to London, the Anfield side ended up signing relatively unknown Stuttgart ace Wataru Endo for a modest £15m.
Together with other summer arrivals – Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai – the new midfielders have all impressed this season, helping the team leapfrog Arsenal at the top of the league.
During a Q&A in front of Liverpool supporters on Monday during the opening of their expanded Anfield Road End stand, Jurgen Klopp said on his summer business:
“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?”.
“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.”
The Liverpool manager added, jovially: “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.”
