Klopp says Liverpool signings need to hit the ground running

Liverpool's new signings need to hit the ground running because the club cannot afford to waste time and money, manager Juergen Klopp said.

“Our transfers have to hit the ground (running) because we can't make a £40m ($54.24m) and £50m pound signing and, in the end, if he is playing or not it is not so important,” Klopp said.

“It can always happen for injury reasons and stuff like this but it should not happen very often because it's not that we, (as) we say in Germany, swim in money.

“It's a wealthy club with no problems but the policy here is clear — we spend what we earn. If we earn more, we can spend more. If we earn less, we can spend less.”

Colombian forward Luis Diaz, who joined Liverpool on last week's January deadline day from Portuguese side Porto, is the latest addition to the Premier League side, and made his debut off the bench in the FA Cup win over Cardiff City last Sunday. Klopp was sufficiently impressed with that performance to give Diaz a start in a 2-0 win over Leicester City in the league on Thursday, with the 25-year-old causing all kinds of problems for the opposition.

Another player who impressed against Leicester was Diogo Jota, who scored both goals. He also managed to get his Liverpool career off to a rip-roaring start after joining the Merseyside club in September 2020. Klopp said timing was important when it came to transfer deals.

“I'm 100% sure Diogo Jota a year later would have had offers from other top clubs, so that's how it is,” Klopp said. “Maybe in the year we wanted him it was not the case, I don't know, to be 100% honest.

“Similar with Mo (Mohamed Salah). If Mo would have played another season at Roma in a similar manner, probably would have improved there as well, there would've been other clubs in.

“So it's about timing, it's about what you need in that moment.”

Second-placed Liverpool, who trail leaders Manchester City by nine points, visit bottom club Burnley on Sunday.