Jurgen Klopp asked if he’ll quit Liverpool over Jude Bellingham and gives ‘angry’ reply | Football | Sport
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hit back at suggestions that he could jump ship for a club with more financial power in the transfer market. Klopp looks set to miss out on midfield target Jude Bellingham this summer, labelling him a ‘Ferrari’ that the Reds can’t afford.
Liverpool were considered favourites to sign Bellingham ahead of a heavyweight transfer battle expected to feature Manchester City, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
So reports that they had dropped out of the running earlier this week sent shockwaves across the football world, leaving the 19-year-old’s future up in the air.
Borussia Dortmund will reportedly demand a staggering £135million plus add-ons to part ways with Bellingham this summer, a sum of money Liverpool need to use on two or three new midfielders.
And during his press conference on Friday, Klopp wasn’t in the mood to be questioned about his Anfield future ahead of a much-needed revamp.
After being told he would have an array of high-profile jobs at his feet if he were to leave, the German boss insisted that he wasn’t ‘angry’ about Bellingham evading him and stressed that Liverpool remains ‘his club’.
He responded: “This is my club. You want to suggest I quit here and wait for the next top job? Really? This is my club.
“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. If I am angry, we don’t all of a sudden have more money or the resources to do everything.
“So it’s rubbish [to get angry], it’s not ok – I’m too much of a professional. You work with it. Make the best of it. We are not children.
“If a five-year-old wants a Ferrari for Christmas. You wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, that is a good idea.’ You would say that it is too expensive. Anyway, you cannot drive it.
“If this kid then spends his whole life unhappy because he cannot get a Ferrari, then that is a sad life.”
Liverpool’s fading hopes of Champions League qualification will further damage their ability to spend heavily at the end of the season.
But a new-look midfield next term would almost feel like Klopp hitting the restart button to begin a new project after his era of success.
