Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has made little secret of his despite to remould the Reds squad during the January transfer window.
The Anfield heavyweights had started strongly under Klopp, but their progress was halted with a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace before the international break.
While the German coach—who replaced Brendan Rodgers last month—will soon welcome Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson back to the first team, he still looks set to invest in his squad in January.
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In this feature, we run down the latest Liverpool transfer news and gossip.
Christian Benteke
While the Belgian forward—who only joined Liverpool during the summer—looks unlikely to leave Anfield any time soon, he has shed light on how close he came to joining his current manager Klopp at Borussia Dortmund during the manager’s time there.
“It was after my first year at Aston Villa,” Benteke began, speaking to the Daily Mail. “My agent and the manager had a meeting about maybe doing a transfer but nothing happened. But it doesn’t matter that he tried to sign me before.
“Liverpool are a massive club and you have to fight for your place. It isn’t easy.”
De Bruyne: The one who got away
While Klopp missed out on signing Benteke at Dortmund, it has been revealed that he also fell short of bringing Kevin De Bruyne to BVB.
The Belgian moved to Manchester City this summer after starring in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg. He moved to Germany after failing to make the grade at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho.
However, De Bruyne has admitted that Dortmund—and the chance to work with Klopp—had been his first choice.
“I had a personal agreement [with Klopp],” De Bruyne began, speaking to the Telegraph as per Goal.
“I asked the club [Chelsea] to go because I had a good feeling about Dortmund at the time. I had been good in Germany and he [Klopp] really wanted me because [Mario] Gotze went to Bayern Munich.
“He called me, and said ‘You will be the No 1’ at a team who had been second in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League final.”
Ayoze Perez
Klopp has been linked with Newcastle United forward Ayoze Perez as he looks to replace the injured Danny Ings, who will sit out the rest of the campaign due to injury.
However, the Spanish forward—who has also been tipped to join Manchester United—has been urged to stay at St. James’ Park.
“Ayoze is someone who is doing well and his career is definitely best served here,” coach Steve McClaren began, as reported by the Daily Star.
“He’s getting development, a good education, the right training and most important of all, he is playing.
“Here, the fans love him, his team-mates love him and we love him too.
“It’s a great environment for Ayoze to develop.”
Dries Mertens
While Liverpool are unlikely to be dissuaded by moving for Perez following McClaren’s words, they look to have missed out on the chance to sign Belgian forward Dries Mertens.
The Napoli star’s agent as confirmed that the player will not be leaving the club any time soon, according to Give Me Sport, and is not keen on a move away from Italy.
Klopp doesn’t want player sales
While Liverpool offloaded Raheem Sterling to Saturday’s opponents Manchester City during the summer, Klopp has insisted that he will not be selling any of Liverpool’s star men in January.
Sterling’s reunion with his former club is a stark reminder of the Reds’ current place in the pecking order of EPL giants, but Klopp is keen to reverse the trend.
“Always, the will of the players is very important. First of all we have to try to become a club in the future that nobody wants to leave,” the coach said, as per the Daily Post.
“Then we have the problems that we have to send some players (out) because we have too many! That is ultimately what we have to do.”