Watch Chelsea vs Liverpool from 4pm on Sunday on Sky Sports Premier League; kick-off 4.30pm
Friday 18 September 2020 13:32, UK
Jurgen Klopp says the potential signing of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich will not mean he is forced to sell any of his current Liverpool stars.
Alcantara has arrived on Merseyside to complete a move which will see the Premier League champions pay £20m with the potential for £5m in add-ons.
Although it initially looked like any deal would be dependent on the future of Georginio Wijnaldum, who is also in the final year of his Anfield contract, Klopp insists it does not mean any imminent departures.
Klopp said: "If it (Thiago signing) happens it has no impact on anyone's future in a negative way.
"No one has to leave if someone comes in or anything like that. It has no impact."
"Sometimes you buy before you sell, sometimes you sell before you buy - there's different scenarios.
"Sometimes you earn it back differently but what is true for us is what we earned on football, we spend on football. That is the short summary of the club's philosophy and one of the key points.
"We are consistently looking at improvement and I cannot promise we will do something and I cannot say it is 100 per cent sure we don't.
"It's a developing situation - a player could come to me and say, 'boss, I want to go' - I don't expect that but it can happen and then we have to react."
Although the Liverpool boss couldn't rule out any further transfer moves, Sunday's opponents Chelsea have spent more than £200m on new recruits with Klopp insisting there is no deep hostilities between the two club's managers.
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard previously appeared amused at comments on how his club is run, while the pair also argued on the touchline during last season's 5-3 Liverpool win.
Ahead of this weekend's game, live on Sky Sports Premier League, Klopp said: "There's no rivalry, you really should stop reading newspapers, when I heard about what all the different journalists were saying I just didn't get it.
"Why create a rivalry between Frank Lampard and me when we maybe only meet two or three times a year?
"I respect a lot of what he is doing - he is probably a really nice guy but I don't know because I don't know him privately, like he doesn't know me privately.
"On the sidelines we are both quite animated and emotional and sometimes you say a few words you wish you didn't. That's how life and football is….it has nothing more than that. I have no problems with Frank Lampard at all."
Sky Sports' Adam Bate:
The commentator was just saying how comfortable Paris Saint-Germain were looking when it happened. "They are quite happy for Bayern to have the ball in their half," he said. But it was at that precise moment that Thiago Alcantara weaved his magic, firing a crisp pass between the lines.
The ball was in the back of the net seconds later. The goal was enough to win the 2020 Champions League for Bayern Munich and while scorer Kingsley Coman was the official man of the match, the role of Thiago in the team's triumph escaped absolutely no one.
At 29 and reluctant to sign a new contract, Bayern realised they might have to sell. Liverpool are now ready to pounce and it is easy to see why the move might appeal. Jurgen Klopp's side can do almost anything. But they cannot do what Thiago can do…
Read the full feature on what Thiago would offer Liverpool here
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The summer transfer window will run for 10 weeks from July 27 and close at 11pm on October 5.
A domestic-only window for trades between the Premier League and EFL then runs from October 5 and closes on Friday, October 16 at 5pm.
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