Joel Matip’s signing has saved Liverpool millions, claims Jürgen Klopp

Cameroon central defender to arrive at Anfield on free transfer in summer
Jurgen Klopp: ‘Only three or four clubs in Germany could get Matip’

Posted Wednesday, February 17, 2016 by theguardian.com

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool have saved millions by moving decisively for Joel Matip and has indicated this summer may not witness another mass recruitment drive at Anfield.

Matip became the second signing of Klopp’s reign on Monday when it was confirmed he will leave Schalke for Liverpool when his contract expires at the end of the season. The 24-year-old central defender rejected a lucrative offer to stay in Gelsenkirchen, plus interest from several European and Premier League clubs, and Klopp claims Schalke could have named their price for the Cameroon international had he remained under contract. The Liverpool manager also confirmed the pursuit of Matip was his suggestion, not that of the club’s transfer committee.

Liverpool confirm Schalke defender Joel Matip will join club in summer.

Klopp, who may have lost the reserve midfielder Kevin Stewart to an ankle-ligament injury suffered in training, said of Matip: “He wanted a new challenge and he’s made big steps in his development in the last few years. He’s become a really experienced centre-half – tall but flexible and quick. A perfect header of the ball, he scores four or five goals a season, and is good in the buildup.

''He was an easy choice. I know in England it is really difficult to sign a player without paying a transfer fee but I thought it cannot be a reason not to take him only because you cannot put a number behind his name. If you asked in Germany what other clubs would have paid for him had he still been under contract, you can just pick a number.

''In Germany, for a player of his quality who is out of contract, there are a lot of clubs in the running. Schalke is a big club who have played the last four or five years in the Champions League. They made him a big offer to stay, they wanted to keep him. There are probably only three or four clubs in Germany who could get Matip when he is at Schalke – Dortmund, and that’s not possible, Bayern, maybe Leverkusen and maybe Wolfsburg. Finish. The rest, no chance. Then you have to think about other countries and that is what he wanted to do, and we moved early enough.

''I knew he was thinking about doing something else because he had been with Schalke since the youth team in 2000, a long time, and he wanted to do something completely different. This was our chance but there were a lot of clubs interested in him. He can be a really good centre-half in the Premier League.”

Klopp signed the Red Star Belgrade midfielder Marko Grujic last month and he will also arrive in the summer though the manager said he has “absolutely no idea” how many will ultimately turn up for his first pre-season at the club. However, following the high turnover of the past two summers, with Liverpool adding nine players to their first-team squad in 2014 and seven in 2015, Klopp suggested there may not be a repeat.

''I don’t believe in the number of transfers but we have to make solutions and we will make solutions,” he said. “Seven sounds really a lot. We have enough strikers – five with Roberto [Firmino] – but not too many wingers, just a few young ones with great potential.

''We have to decide early and at the right moment on transfers but it is about a squad where you can play different systems and react to different situations. We went into this season with five centre-halves if you think of Joe [Gomez] and then at one stage we seemed to only have one and a half. It was like: ‘Who can we play?’ So you prepare as much as possible and look for the highest quality you can get.”

Klopp returns to Germany on Wednesday when Liverpool travel to Augsburg for their Europa League last-32, first-leg tie. As well as missing Stewart, who has impressed in recent first-team outings, Adam Lallana is also out with injury.

''Kevin blocked a shot and his ankle was not stable,” he said. “It was a bit bruised so we have sent him for a scan; we think it’s the ligament. He trained outstandingly and then this happened. That’s not too good, but Lucas [Leiva] is back.”