Jurgen Klopp has confirmed he hopes Liverpool complete further signings before the summer transfer window closes on the eve of the new Premier League season.
There are just 15 days left until player trading stops until January, and the Reds have made just one addition with Sepp van den Berg arriving from PEC Zwolle.
The £1.3million signing is expected to join Liverpool’s Under-23s rather than Klopp’s first-team, which means the German will have no new recruits to use as he attempts to topple Manchester City and win the Premier League.
And while Klopp’s strongest team is as good as it was last season, there is no denying his squad is weaker overall compared to 2018/19 as Liverpool have lost Alberto Moreno, the left-back, and centre-forward Daniel Sturridge on free transfers.
Divock Origi’s rise to prominence in the final months of last season means Sturridge does not need to be replaced with a new signing, though Liverpool have been hoping to add defensive cover following Moreno’s departure.
They missed out on top target Lloyd Kelly, who joined Bournemouth from Bristol City, but there is a good chance an alternate option will be brought to Anfield before the transfer window closes with Klopp insisting he remains on the lookout for new recruits.
“We are still looking, but it will not be the [biggest] transfer window of Liverpool,” Klopp told the Liverpool Echo. “We will see what we do, and if we haven’t done anything by the end it will be for different reasons.
“It’s about using this team. In the transfer window, you have to build a team that you think you want to go into the season with. But I have that team already.
Liverpool agree deal to sign Netherlands wonderkid Sepp van den Berg from PEC Zwolle
“If we can bring somebody else in that makes it even better, we will see. But if not, this team is already there. And again we will have to find solutions at different moments.”
One of these ‘solutions’ had to be found last season.
Klopp continued: “We started last season with five centre-backs, Nat Phillips included. Then there was one matchday against Brighton when there was Virgil van Dijk left. Fabinho next to him.
“Had one of them gone out, then I wouldn’t have known who could do it. Who could play centre-back?
“You cannot be prepared for everything. You need a bit of luck, and we had a little bit of it in the final part of last season. We came through, won something, and now let’s try again.”