Liverpool FC Thread #158:- We are Liverpool. This means more.

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Jürgen Klopp feels Sadio Mane’s blistering start to 2018-19 is a product of the forward feeling ‘more secure’ after realising the full extent of the ability he possesses.

The No.10 has struck three goals in Liverpool’s opening two Premier League matches and been influential throughout the wins over West Ham United and Crystal Palace.

Indeed, Mane has netted seven times in his last 10 top-flight outings for the Reds and Klopp believes he has come to convince himself of his own talents.

The manager said: “Sadio did start pretty well last year. He was in fantastic shape then came the City game and an unlucky situation [with the red card]. That was not good.

“I think he had an injury then as well, a little one. Now he's much more secure that this is his level.

“The players surprise themselves sometimes. 'Wow, really? That's how good I am?' We all need to show our best and get used to it.

“Sadio is a very consistent player for us. His work rate is great. We have a very strange 4-5-1 formation with Sadio as a midfielder, Bobby [Firmino] being a midfielder more or less and Mo [Salah] being a striker, even though he plays in a little different position.

“We talk about the defensive work rate they put in and that's really important.

“Pre-season was not the longest [for Mane], three weeks after three weeks of holiday. I think the first game he and Mo played was [Manchester] City, right? That was after three or four days’ training.

“It's quality. We have to make sure we can show that every week. Who scores the goals is not too important but it was very important for us and very nice for Sadio that he could do it.”

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Jurgen Klopp on why 'suspicions' over Xherdan Shaqiri move to Liverpool have been proved wrong

Jurgen Klopp believes English football is “suspicious” of cheap signings – but insists Xherdan Shaqiri has already silenced his doubters.

The Swiss attacker joined Liverpool in a £13million move from relegated Stoke City this summer.

Klopp says the attitude to transfers in the Premier League is in stark contrast to the Bundesliga.

“I don't think German football culture would tolerate transfers of 150 million Euros. They love nothing more than a free transfer,” he told SPORT1.

“The view in England is different. If a player costs nothing there is a suspicion he must be useless.

“For example, there was a lot of questioning (in England) around our interest in Xherdan Shaqiri.

“We paid £13million for him after he got relegated with Stoke. But he's a fantastic player and now everyone at the club loves him. In comparison to Germany, it's really different.

“I remember a few years ago, the topic on everyone's lips in Germany was the amount of money, around 100 million Euros, that Bayern Munich were said to have in cash reserves. These days you wouldn't even get half a Neymar for that!”

Foreign investors are prohibited from owning Bundesliga clubs and as a result teams lack the financial firepower to compete against their English and Spanish rivals in Europe.

Klopp says unless the rules change clubs in his homeland will have to get used to be priced out of deals.

“Times change. That's the way they want to do things in Germany and I don't wish to criticise it,” he added.

“It's a system that can work perfectly well. But then you just have to accept the risk of the top talent going off to ply its trade in England or Spain.



“There's a decision to be made. Either you keep everything as it is: a great league with fantastic stadia and great atmospheres.

“Or you can go down the road they've gone in England. But then the rules have to be changed. You can't have your cake and eat it.”

Klopp also defended Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil over his decision to quit international football following Germany's disastrous World Cup.

Ozil was criticised for being photographed with Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and accused of not showing enough passion for Germany.

“This is a classic example of absolute misinformation and, of course, complete nonsense,” Klopp said.

“This photo was used – first by Erdogan, then by many other people. In politics, little things have always been blown up and big things pushed away in order to continue.

“Normally intelligent people tend to hold back because it is not easy to say the right thing. I would count myself too. All those who have no idea are very loud in these conversations.

“I know Ilkay Gundogan very well, I know Emre Can and Nuri Sahin very well. I do not know Mesut so well, but I would like to take him home. I do not doubt these guys at least about their loyalty to our homeland.

“Cultural diversity, we all thought it was really cool around the 2006 World Cup. I saw these fantastic commercials where the parents of Gerald Asamoah and Mario Gomez had a barbecue party together.

“I find this discussion hypocritical. Bad things happened because people were not informed properly."

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Nabil Fekir is still getting over the crushing disappointment of missing out on a dream move to Liverpool.

The Reds agreed a £53million deal with Lyon for the France international in June but the transfer collapsed following his medical due to concerns over an old knee injury.

Fekir, who had agreed a contract with Liverpool, has yet to feature for Lyon this season and head coach Bruno Genesio says the 25-year-old World Cup winner has found what happened tough to take.

"It is never easy accepting this kind of situation, when you are very near to signing for a club where you want to go, where you want to reach another level and to give a boost to your career," Genesio said.



“But it could have been worse for him. He is at Lyon, at a strong club, he is captain of a team who plays in the Champions League.

"This could be a very important season for Nabil. I haven't seen any attitudes or signs that make me think he won't live up to his role the way he did last year.”

Fekir is expected to make his return to action for Lyon against Strasbourg on Friday.

"It was better to take our time with him, even if we would have liked to have had him with us from the start of the season. He wasn't ready physically,” Genesio added.

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Liverpool defender Connor Randall has joined Rochdale on loan until January.

The 22-year-old right-back has been looking for a club since returning from a season-long stay at Hearts.

Randall clocked up 27 appearances for the Scottish outfit but they decided not to sign him on a permanent basis.

With Trent Alexander-Arnold, Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez ahead of him in the pecking order, there was little hope of the Academy graduate forcing his way back into Klopp's plans.

Randall has become something of a forgotten man at Liverpool this summer. Rather than training at Melwood, he spent pre-season with Neil Critchley's under-23s squad at the Academy.

Randall, who grew up in Maghull, was handed his Liverpool debut by Klopp in the League Cup tie with Bournemouth in October 2015. He was also part of Klopp's first ever matchday squad at Tottenham earlier that month.



He made the last of his eight first-team appearances for the Reds in the FA Cup defeat to Wolves at Anfield in January 2017.

Randall is out of contract at the end of this season and will be hoping to kick-start his career with League One outfit Rochdale.

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Loris Karius' move from Liverpool to Besiktas has been held up by national public holidays in Turkey.

The clubs thrashed out a £9.5million deal on Monday with the German keeper withdrawn from the Reds' squad for the Premier League clash at Crystal Palace.

Three days on Karius has yet to put pen to paper but the 25-year-old shot-stopper is expected to arrive in Istanbul to undergo a medical on Friday.

This week is the 'Feast of Sacrifice' – the most important Islamic religious festival of the year – which is a four-day public holiday in Turkey.

As a result there was no point in Karius rushing over to complete the formalities but barring a late change of heart he will sign for Besiktas.

The Reds have agreed an initial two-year loan with the Turkish outfit who will pay a loan fee of £2.25million.

Besiktas are obligated to buy him for a further £7.25million in 2020 if certain performance criteria are met. These are related to appearances and Besiktas qualifying for Europe.

Liverpool will also have a 20% sell on clause if the deal becomes permanent.

If the deal goes through then Karius will sign a one-year contract extension with Liverpool - with an option to extend for a second year if he returns to Anfield for the 2020/21 season. His current deal expires at the end of June 2021.



Simon Mignolet took Karius' place on the bench against Palace and the Belgium international is set to be retained as Alisson Becker's understudy this season.

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The transfer business Liverpool still need to conduct with one week left of the window

There's one week left in the transfer window and Liverpool still have plenty to do.

The Reds can't bring any players in, of course, but Michael Edwards and his team will be busy nonetheless, helping players find new clubs ahead of the deadline.

Liverpool had hoped to bring in close to £100m in sales - but that now looks unlikely, with European clubs happy to sit and wait until the final days of the window in order to get the best price.

Here are some of the deals Liverpool will be looking to get done before August 31.

Divock Origi



Belgian striker Divock Origi finds himself way down the pecking order at Anfield and is very likely to leave the club this summer.

Whether that's on loan or on a permanent deal remains to be seen, but Liverpool had hoped to fetch around £27m for his signature.

Interest from Valencia and Dortmund didn't result in either club making a firm offer, but the Reds are likely to field loan offers for the 23-year-old in the next week.

Origi struggled to impress since returning from a loan spell at Wolfsburg in the summer.

Lazar Markovic



Liverpool just can't seem to shift Lazar Markovic.

The Serbian winger has now been at Anfield for four years, but made just 34 appearances for the Reds, scoring three goals.

Now 24, the winger is in desperate need of rebuilding his career after temporary spells at Fenerbahce, Sporting, Hull and Anderlecht.

Markovic caught the eye in a pre-season clash with Blackburn, scoring Liverpool's opener, but after playing against Dortmund in Charlotte, he failed to make another appearance for the Reds this summer.

Liverpool value Markovic at around £7m, with Anderlecht, Leganes and Getafe all linked with a move.

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Pedro Chirivella



Earlier this month Pedro Chirivella turned down a potential £3.5million move to Rosenborg.

The Spanish midfielder spent last season on loan at Go Ahead Eagles and Willem II in Holland, and has just two years to run on his contract at Anfield.

Chirivella would rather go back to Spain or stay in England and the Reds are now happy to sanction a loan move for the midfielder.

Sheyi Ojo



Liverpool value winger Sheyi Ojo at around £15m, but will sanction a loan move if that price isn't met.

Ojo spent last season on loan at Fulham and a whole host of Championship clubs have been credited with an interest in the youngster.

At 21, the wide man will be keen to play more first-team football and a temporary spell in the Championship now looks likely.

Any other business?

Liverpool will look to keep Simon Mignolet at the club as Alisson Becker's number two, with Loris Karius expected to move on loan to Besiktas.

There are several of the club's young players who could be looking for loan moves this season. Midfielder Matty Virtue and defender Corey Whelan have both been lined up for moves away and Connor Randall hasn't featured. He spent last season on loan at Hearts.

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Fenway Sports Group have reiterated that Liverpool FC is not for sale after a proposed £2billion takeover of the club failed.

However, the Reds' American owners remain open to the idea of selling a minority stake in return for the right investment.

It has emerged that Abu Dhabi-based Sheik Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan, the cousin of Manchester City owner Sheik Mansour, tried to buy Liverpool earlier this year.

The £2billion offer would have been the most expensive takeover in the history of football with Midhat Kidwai, the managing director of Sheik Khaled's conglomerate of companies, meeting Liverpool chairman Tom Werner in New York.

The Mail report that the buyout that would have been a joint venture between Sheik Khaled and a minority stake Chinese partner.

FSG admit there was interest but have played down the significance of the discussions that took place.

Liverpool's owners use the services of Allen & Company, a New York-based boutique investment bank, to vet and filter the succession of inquiries from potential investors.

The ECHO understands that the proposal from Sheik Khaled didn't get past the vetting stage with Allen & Company because it was judged to be neither credible nor worthwhile to be put to major shareholders John W Henry and Mike Gordon.

Proof of funds wasn't forthcoming but FSG insist they did not agree to sell Liverpool for £2billion and that all dialogue with Sheik Khaled ended in January.



A club statement read: “FSG have been clear and consistent: the club is not for sale.

“But what the ownership has said, again clearly and consistently, is that under the right terms and conditions we would consider taking on a minority investor, if such a partnership was to further our commercial interests in specific market places and in line with the continued development and growth of the club and the team.”

City Football Group, which owns Manchester City, sold a 13% stake to a Chinese consortium in 2015 for £265million and FSG could enter into a similar agreement for Liverpool if the right partner is found.

The Reds' Boston-based owners have transformed the club both on and off the pitch since their £300million takeover in 2010.

The appointment of Jurgen Klopp as manager proved to be a master stroke and they have redeveloped Anfield with the new Main Stand as well as given the green light for a new training ground complex to be built at Kirkby.

This summer saw a major show of ambition in the transfer market with £170million worth of new talent added to Klopp's squad and the Reds have made a perfect start to the new season.

Last October, Werner told the ECHO that there was “no truth” to reports in the Middle East that FSG had rejected an offer of £1.5billion for the club from Dubai financier Amanda Staveley and her firm PCP Capital Partners.

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Liverpool end Divock Origi Dortmund talks as Jurgen Klopp faces Dominic Solanke decision

Divock Origi's hopes of securing a move to Borussia Dortmund appear to have been dashed.

Liverpool have ended talks with the Bundesliga outfit who were unwilling to meet the £27million asking price.

Dortmund wanted to sign Origi on a season-long loan but the Reds were adamant they would only consider a permanent transfer.

The ECHO revealed last Sunday that Liverpool had been in negotiations with Jurgen Klopp's former club about a deal for the Belgium international.

Dortmund boss Lucien Favre has been desperate to bolster his strikeforce and was keen to secure the services of Origi, who has two years remaining on his contract.

Liverpool insist their valuation is realistic with Wolves prepared to pay £22million plus add-ons for Origi earlier this summer. However, after discussions between the two clubs, Origi wasn't keen on moving to Molineux.



Unless the Reds receive a suitable offer before August 31, Origi will be retained as cover for the first half of the season. The 23-year-old frontman, who spent last season on loan at Wolfsburg, has scored 21 goals in 77 appearances for Liverpool.

Klopp had planned to snub loan interest in Dominic Solanke and keep the England international as back up for Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge, but if Origi stays put then the Reds boss may reassess.

A sizeable loan offer could convince Liverpool to let Solanke leave on a temporary basis.

Neither Origi nor Solanke have even made the bench for the opening two games of the season. However, with the Reds competing on four fronts this term, Klopp knows that one of them is bound to be required at some stage over the coming months.

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Ejaria Praised

Steven Gerrard praised Ovie Ejaria after the midfielder starred in Rangers’ 1-0 win over FC Ufa yesterday.

The Scots now lead in their final Europa League play-off encounter and travel to Russia to complete the tie next Thursday.

“I thought he was magnificent and I think that is his strongest 90 minutes that he has given us so far,” the former Red said of Ejaria after the game.

“I think we have seen a lot of flashes and a lot of halves, some good performances, but I think that’s his first real excellent performance that he’s announced against a good team. I thought he was excellent from start to finish.”