Klopp insists ´there is no plan B´ for Liverpool transfer targets

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says there is no such thing as a “plan B or C” when it comes to the club’s transfer targets in the remaining weeks of the window.

The Reds have been relatively quiet in the market, with Dominic Solanke and Andrew Robertson the only arrivals following Mohamed Salah’s move, which Roma confirmed as a club-record deal that could reach €50million.

Liverpool have long been linked with RB Leipzig’s Naby Keita but the Bundesliga club have insisted that the midfielder is not for sale, while Virgil van Dijk – who has submitted a transfer request at Southampton – is also said to be a target, despite Klopp’s side having been reported to the Premier League over an alleged illegal approach for the defender in June.

Despite the difficulty in landing players who are said to be priority targets, Klopp insists he will not consider signing back-up options.

“If we bring in players, we bring in players because I want them. That’s how I see it,” he told a news conference ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League opener with Watford. 

“There will not be a plan B, plan C or whatever. The players I bring in will be plan A. I cannot bring in a player just to buy a player.”

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Philippe Coutinho has been ruled out of the Watford trip with a back injury, while Nathaniel Clyne, (also back), Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge (both thigh) are also sidelined.

However, Klopp is confident that Sturridge will be available for the Champions League play-off first leg against Hoffenheim on Tuesday and revealed that Danny Ings will play for the Under-23s on Friday in a bid to be ready for a first-team comeback.

“He needs games,” he said of Ings, who sustained a serious knee injury last November. “He looked really good in the sessions we had when he could be a part. There was no time for us to test him.

“Now he’s ready to go, as fit as he can be. He will play tonight with the Under-23s. He is not really an option because he had no pre-season games.”

He added on Sturridge: “Daniel is already close for the weekend but he won’t play. He will be fit for Tuesday.”