Obviously, Jurgen Klopp wasn’t going to openly discuss Liverpool’s links to Alex Teixeira during today’s press-conference, but we already know the club has made a bid (via BBC) and if we were not in for the Brazilian – he’d have simply denied it – like he did with the Pato stories (via Metro).
When asked about the 26-year-old Brazilian, who the BBC claim we’ve bid £24.5m for, Klopp replied: “No…” but started grinning, before telling reporters, “We can talk about any player in the world if we had time for it… Be careful with your questions, yeah?!” (via the Echo).
The Echo then reported that Klopp went on to speak about January transfers in general.
“If we take a new player now it’s the most perfect moment. My opinion hasn’t changed but of course we have to watch the market,” he continued.
“If we find a solution, for both transfer windows, a player who could help us as soon as possible, of course we will try it.
“That’s all. It was a little different with Steven Caulker. He’s done really well. He’s in a good way.
“Nothing specifically changed my mind. If we see a good player and there’s a longer time to work together than three games, and we think it’s possible to do something that we would do in the summer.
“I think we should remember the price.”
Klopp’s comments are largely difficult to interpret, as he’s keen on not giving much away, but we think he’s essentially saying – ‘If the opportunity is there to bring in a top player, we’ll take it.’ As he did with Marko Grujic, he’ll refuse to discuss somebody else’s player until a deal is over the line. We’ve no issue with that.
The latest news on Teixeira is that Ian Ayre and the delegates have flown back from Florida having failed to finalise a deal, the Guardian claim, but that Shakhtar are still willing to sell before the January window closes.
The playmaker would represent the first real serious piece of business since Klopp’s arrival, and if we acquired him – he’d become the most expensive player Klopp’s ever bought.
Grujic will join us next term and Steven Caulker is on loan as a backup centre-back until the end of the season, of course.