17 January 2023 , 08:50
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is eyeing a summer rebuild at Anfield after insisting he is not "too loyal" to his players.
Klopp has admitted things need to change at the Reds following their humbling three-goal defeat at Brighton on Saturday. Having come within two matches of winning an unprecedented quadruple last season, Liverpool are enduring a campaign which is threatening to develop into a crisis.
The Reds are ninth in the Premier League and a whopping 10 points off a top-four place, with qualification for next season’s Champions League increasingly improbable. Their EFL Cup defence ended last month and they face a testing FA Cup Third Round away trip to Wolves on Tuesday.
Klopp’s side have conceded 25 league goals – as many as West Ham, who are in the relegation zone, and 14 more than Newcastle – while they have won just two out of six matches since domestic football returned following the World Cup.
There is no doubt in Klopp’s mind that he wants to stay at the club but he has hinted that multiple players are set to be moved on this summer. Speaking to reporters on Monday, he said: "Yes, of course, I've heard that but I am not too loyal. I am loyal, I think everyone should be loyal, but I am not too loyal.
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"You have a good player who did a lot of good stuff in the past and then maybe, in your mind, you think: 'That's it for him now.' If you can then go out and bring in another player to replace him then it makes sense from both sides. If you cannot bring anybody in then you cannot take anyone out, that's the situation."
Liverpool's season lurched to a fresh low with Saturday's humbling loss at Brighton (Frank Augstein/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Have Your Say! What players would you move on from Liverpool this summer? Tell us what you think here.
Klopp’s comments were striking, highlighting that he was not currently able to replace players at the club and that some were being selected on this basis. Not only does that suggest he wants to move those players on but also that the club have not made others available.
Similarities have been drawn to Klopp’s seventh season at Liverpool with his final season at Borussia Dortmund, where a marked downturn in results followed several seasons of overachievements.
"When I left Dortmund I said: 'Something has to change here.' It was a different situation there but in a way it's similar. Either I go ... or a lot of other things change," said Klopp, whose Liverpool contract runs until 2026.
"As far as I know, from what I hear, I will not go. So that means maybe there's a point where we have to change other stuff and we will see that. But it's something for the future, like in the summer, not now."