Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed his admiration for German duo Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, while suggesting the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic has affected his side’s ability to compete in the transfer market.
Both RB Leipzig marksman Werner and Havertz, of Bayer Leverkusen, have been winning rave reviews this season thanks to their exploits in the Bundesliga.
Liverpool have been linked with both players over the course of 2019-20, but each looks set to escape the grasp of their compatriot at Anfield.
Werner is expected to move to Chelsea in a £54 million (€60m/$68m) deal, while Havertz has reportedly been tipped to cross the Bundesliga and join Bayern Munich at the end of the season.
Klopp believes that Covid-19 and the subsequent interruption to normal activities has taken its toll on Liverpool’s transfer capabilities.
‘There are a lot of good players on this planet,’ Klopp told Sky Germany when asked about the pair. ‘Timo Werner is a great player, Kai Havertz is a great player.
‘Right time, opportunity – everything has to come together. Six, seven weeks ago, we didn’t know if we could play again this year.
‘If we hadn’t played the second half of the season, we would have thought, ‘OK, when can you really play football again?’ And now it starts right away.’
He added: ‘There are all sorts of rumours in England about who Manchester United are going to pick, Chelsea are going to pick.
‘It’s rather quiet here (at Liverpool) at the moment, I think it’s safe to say. If you want to take it seriously and run a normal business and depend on income and have no idea how much you will earn… especially because we don’t know when we can start playing with spectators again.
‘At the moment, all clubs are losing money. Without spectators, we have to pay back the season tickets and probably sell none next year. At least maybe without the first 10 or 15 games. The VIP areas won’t be packed and the tickets won’t be sold. This will have an impact on other partners and things will look a bit different.
‘Discussing with the players about things like salary waivers and on the other hand buying a player for £50-60m, we have to explain.’
Klopp continued to warn that, while German football is already up and running and the Premier League is set to follow suit in June, no side can take anything for granted at this stage.
‘We act as if everything is already settled. It’s not settled. We use this little loophole we’ve been left to play football again.
‘Everything else we have to see the moment it happens. We can’t pretend now that everything’s going to be fine in the future.’
Liverpool hope to seal their first top-flight title in 30 years when the Premier League resumes.
Currently 25 points ahead of nearest rivals Manchester City, Klopp’s charges need two wins to be champions but could even be crowned on the first weekend back should they defeat Everton at Goodison Park on June 21 and Pep Guardiola’s side slip up.
