Before the start of preseason next month, Jurgen Klopp would love to get his transfer business concluded.
Jurgen Klopp would want to have all of his transfer business concluded prior to the start of the preseason.
When Calvin Ramsay, Darwin Nunez, and Fabio Carvalho entered the AXA Training Center in Kirkby on June 20, 2011, the newcomers had already been signed and sealed.
In order for Ibrahima Konate to join Liverpool in time for the summer schedule, which saw them spend a month away from Merseyside at two camps in Austria and France, his release clause at RB Leipzig was activated in late May the previous year.
In his last pregame news conference before a Premier League game last month, Klopp claimed that he wanted to be able to toast to his transfer business being concluded within “six or seven weeks” after the game’s final whistle on May 28.
The Reds manager claimed: “The less the other club wants to let him go, the better players you want.” And that is just what we are ready for.
But since there is a long window, preseason, and break in between, we have time regardless whether we sign players tomorrow or in six to seven weeks. For me, it doesn’t really affect the game, to be honest. The best case scenario is that they all sign tomorrow, at which point I can tell them where to report and we can begin distributing the plans for the summer vacation, but it is unlikely that will occur.
After completing a deal to sign Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton & Hove Albion for a reported sum of over £35 million less than a fortnight after Liverpool’s season ended, focus has now shifted.
The Under-21s European Championships, which begin on Wednesday in Romania and Georgia, will include four of the Reds’ shortlisted midfield players, so the club is still evaluating them. While Khephren Thuram of France is a strong target, Ryan Gravenberch of Holland is also a target. Along with Spain’s Gabri Veiga, his fellow Les Bleus youngster Manu Kone is also being considered.
And although the necessity to integrate players into Klopp’s preferred style of play fuels the urge to bring them in sooner, there are sometimes unnoticed advantages to wrapping up transfer transaction sooner.
The sooner a player joins Liverpool, the simpler it will be for them to adjust to the tactical changes, on-field directives, and demanding timetable. However, the pre-season program also provides the ideal chance to strengthen the bonds already present among the existing group of players.
In essence, a player may more quickly become a part of a particularly tight-knit group of players—many of whom have been stars at Anfield for the last five years—the sooner they sign with the club.
A bonding session at the club’s base in Evian was crucial for Naby Keita getting to know his new teammates in the summer of 2018, for instance, after his £52 million move from RB Leipzig at the beginning of the summer.
The Guinean international, who signed with Werder Bremen earlier this month as a free agent, sang a duet of Mario’s 2004 hit song “Let Me Love You” with Daniel Sturridge during a karaoke night.
“Like a lot of the lads, he’s a good laugh, but he’s also given me a lot of advice about the settling-in process and also in terms of motivation,” Keita later remarked of his new pal Sturridge. “Because he’s a very positive and motivating player, this month has been very good for me, and I’ve spent a lot of time with him.” He’s a wonderful person.”
“Obviously, there were a lot of new players there, and we had this rite of passage where everybody had to get up and sing, and I did my bit,” Keita continued. I really enjoyed it – I was apprehensive, but I enjoyed it!”
The performance was part of the customary initiation ceremony for new arrivals, and while Xherdan Shaqiri‘s rendition of Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds left something to be desired, Alisson Becker was said to have been the night’s standout performer when he treated his new team-mates to an acoustic set with his guitar.
Last year, it was little-known kit man Yinka Ademuyiwa who stole the show at Liverpool’s Austria base when his performance of Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice Ice Baby’ went viral, while fishing trips for the club’s South American contingent were also organized, which helped the likes of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez continue to adapt at the club during their first pre-season with the Reds.
The same may be expected next month, when Liverpool go to Germany to set up camp in the Black Forest ahead of friendlies against Greuther Furth and Karlsruhe.
The first day of pre-season training at the AXA Centre will be July 8, where new recruits should report before joining the club on the aircraft to Klopp’s hometown.
“I think we all set it up for embarrassment that somebody goes up there and has to go through hell with the mic in your hand and you have to sing a song you cannot sing,” Klopp later remarked. “You can’t do anything, you don’t know the song, all that stuff.” But even with all of the fun we were having, the environment was still respectable. I held a large meeting last night and informed the fellas that I’d never seen anything like this before. That is the truth.”
Such activities are frequently viewed as a simple way of relaxing after double sessions of training and providing some stimulation to the players and staff outside of their work demands, but they are also an important part of developing the kind of spirit that can keep a team going through the often long and arduous campaigns.
“This is the foundation we must build on,” Klopp adds. “We as a group, the way we really interact with each other is something special, and we have to make sure we can use that for something big.”
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