Liverpool unlikely to sign centre back in January, says Klopp

[ASFN Admin]

VIDEO SHOWS: LIVERPOOL MANAGER JUERGEN KLOPP SPEAKING AT A NEWS CONFERENCE AND FILE FOOTAGE OF LIVERPOOL TRAINING SHOWS: LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UK (JANUARY 7, 2021) (LIVERPOOL FC - ACCESS ALL) 1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUERGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL MANAGER, SAYING: "No I can not say definitely we will not bring in (a centre half) it's just not likely because of the situation in the world. So we should not forget that the situation is a tough one for all people and for football clubs as well. There might be, and I don't know, there might be some clubs with absolutely no financial, I don't want to use the wrong word because then it will make a big fuss, but without any financial problems. This club always was and will always be, with these owners for sure, just very responsible with the things we do." 2. WHITE FLASH 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUERGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL MANAGER, SAYING: "If the world would be in a normal place, let me say it like this, everything would be fine, we won the league, we won the Champions League blah blah blah, the club is in the best possible situation, and then you have three center halves, senior centre halves, plus Fabinho, plus kids, three senior centre halves all injured, is this a situation you would usually do something, yes, definitely. But we are not in that situation and so I don't know if something will happen or not." 4. WHITE FLASH 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUERGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL MANAGER, SAYING: "We have to deal with the situation like we have done it so far, and have to get through this. So it's not the best moment for the whole planet so why should it be for a football club." 6. WHITE FLASH 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUERGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL MANAGER, SAYING: "It's important, it's the FA Cup. We didn't go far in that competition, I don't think we were blessed with sensational draws, and now we go to Aston Villa which is a tough one as well. But no we always took it very seriously and do this time as well." 8. WHITE FLASH 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUERGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL MANAGER, SAYING: "We need to find the balance to field a team which we didn't change too much. But bringing in fresh legs again, the rhythm is a different issue, we cannot really sort, we have to sort it step by step we cannot do that in one game and use the FA Cup to give the players rhythm, the opponent is just too strong for that. But we have, after the Aston Villa game, we have I think eight days between the two game, between Villa and Manchester United, so that's a long training week." LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - OCTOBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 10. KLOPP AT TRAINING SESSION LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 8, 2020) (UEFA - NO RESALES. NO COMMERCIAL USE. MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY "©UEFA 2021") 11. LIVERPOOL STRIKERS, ROBERTO FIRMINO (NUMBER 9 / WOOLLY HAT), DIOGO JOTA (NUMBER 20), AND MIDFIELDER, ALEX OXLADE CHAMBERLAIN (NUMBER 15), AMONG PLAYERS WARMING UP AT TRAINING SESSION 12. LIVERPOOL STRIKER, SADIO MANE (NUMBER 10), TRAINING 13. LIVERPOOL MIDFIELDER, FABINHO (NUMBER 3) WARMING UP 14. LIVERPOOL STRIKER, MOHAMED SALAH (NUMBER 11) TRAINING 15. LIVERPOOL MIDFIELDER AND CAPTAIN, JORDAN HENDERSON (NUMBER 14) TRAINING STORY: Liverpool are unlikely to sign a central defender in January as cover amid an injury crisis at the Premier League club, with the COVID-19 pandemic also not making it a financially viable option, manager Juergen Klopp said on Thursday (January 7). Liverpool's three main centre backs Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are all sidelined with injuries and Klopp was forced to play midfielders Fabinho and Jordan Henderson in defence in Monday's 1-0 loss at Southampton. However, the German coach said a short-term solution would not help and he would look within the squad for options. "I can not say definitely we will not bring in (a centre half) it's just not likely because of the situation in the world," Klopp told reporters ahead of Friday's FA Cup third round tie at Aston Villa. "The situation is a tough one for all people and for football clubs as well." League leaders Liverpool have dropped seven points in their last three games with second-placed Manchester United level on points with a game in hand. Liverpool's FA Cup third round match against Aston Villa on Friday is in doubt after Villa reported fresh COVID-19 cases in their first team squad. Villa said they had closed their training ground and cancelled Thursday's training session, as a number of players and staff went into isolation. (Production: Andy Ragg)

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