Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has admitted he is now more open to bringing in new players this month — but refused to be drawn on whether Alex Teixeira was Anfield-bound.
With sources telling ESPN FC that Liverpool are in talks with Shakhtar Donetsk to buy Brazilian attacking midfielder Teixeira, Klopp was asked at Friday’s news conference if he could confirm his interest.
The Liverpool manager replied “no,” before reiterating: “I thought I answered when I was asked if there is anything about this and I said no. I have nothing to say about this.
“We could talk about a lot of players in the world if we had time for this, and what qualities they have, but nothing to say at this moment.”
Asked if his view of the transfer market had changed, however, Klopp replied: “Yes, our situation changed. I think I always said if our situation changed then we have to change the opinion, and the January window is not the best time.
“If you are under pressure, everybody wants prices where you think, ‘Are they crazy or something?’ You should not do it, because the situation, to take a new player now, you have two days until the next game, four days until the next game, so it’s not the perfect moment. That’s how it is and my opinion didn’t change on it.
“But of course we have to watch the market. We have to think about what makes sense for us now plus for the summer, and if we find a solution that fits for both transfer windows, winter and summer — [if we find] a player who could help us as quick as possible, of course we could try, but that’s all.
“It was a little bit different with Steven Caulker but since he is here he has done really well. We gave him the 90 minutes with the under-21s in the cup game against Leeds [on Tuesday], he was absolutely good, I saw the match.
“But then you see the problems; you can’t put them all together. Bring players from all over the world, let them all train a few days together, now we are in a training moment and we’ll try to help him to be more comfortable because his last game was six weeks ago or something — that’s the problem always.
“That’s what we always said — we are smart, so we will see if something happens.”
Klopp denied that this meant he was reassessing his view of the squad he inherited from predecessor Brendan Rodgers. He had previously said he would give his current players until the end of this season to prove they had a future at the club.
“No, nothing changed in my mind, in my opinion,” he said. “If there’s a good player who could help us and we see a longer time to work together, not only for three games and then all the others come back [from injury], then we think about it, that’s all. Maybe, if it’s possible, we’ll try to do something that we usually want to do in summer.
“If the situation is then ok with all — player, price — I think we shouldn’t ignore this. We’ll think about it, that’s all.”
Regarding selection for Saturday’s Premier League match away to Norwich City, Klopp may be without Adam Lallana, who he said had a minor strain after the Manchester United game last Sunday and would be assessed.