Jurgen Klopp is known for preferring training over transfers and stick to his ‘Plan A’ irrespective of the availability of his preferred options. It took time to wrap up deals for Virgil Van Dijk and Naby Keita, but the gaffer did not compromise and concluded their acquisition in the end. But he could not retain Philippe Coutinho for the remainder of the campaign as the Brazilian plied his trade to Barcelona last month and the charismatic German boss was heavily criticized for not opting for an alternative. Klopp, once again, preferred to wait until summer to find a like-for-like replacement but club’s negative net spending resulted in utter frustration among the supporters.
Liverpool, however, are already sighting their summer transfer targets and the Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker was reportedly their topmost priority to solve custodian conundrum. Becker, currently playing for AS Roma, is regarded as one of football’s finest keepers of current time and Liverpool’s massive profit over Mohamed Salah has made the Serie A heavyweights cautious ahead of a negotiation regarding any other of their stars.
They are likely to ask for at least £62m for Brazil’s number one, but the Liverpool based journalists dismissed the rumour later on as Klopp, if those reports are believed to be true, has decided to end interest due to such a gigantic asking fee.
The Reds are supposed to have funds to spend a hefty fee but Klopp too has a case here. Loris Karius was brought in last season to be a long-term successor of inconsistent Simon Mignolet, but the young German keeper struggled to cement his place following some disappointing outings. He, once again, started this season as second fiddle to the experienced Belgian but the latter’s dismal display in later weeks allowed Karius to have a second chance to make himself permanent between the sticks for years to come.
He has shown signs of improvement and kept 3 clean-sheets in last four appearances. The ex-Mainz custodian stopped Harry Kane’s spot-kick in their 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur and received applauds for his impact with some smart stops as well as great distributing attributes.
The player is now gradually settling in Liverpool and seems to be determined to make his presence known living up to the promises he was supposed to offer. The Reds have 11 games remaining in Premier League and at least another three in the prestigious Champions League event where they are almost reached the last eight with a thumping 5-0 away win against F.C. Porto. These games are going to be decisive for Karius and he must grab these opportunities to stake a claim for the regular first-team slot. Talks about his replacement will demoralize and demotivate the youngster who is trying his best to make sure the gaffer does not bring in his alternative this summer. With Simon Mignolet likely to leave at the end of this campaign, Klopp might look for someone to have a sporadic role and provide competition only if the German puts an end to Liverpool’s long-standing quandary.
