Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has stated he is ready to recruit again this summer as the Reds gear up for an assault on the Premier League following their astounding Champions League triumph last season.
Klopp’s troops missed out on the top-flight title as Manchester City pipped them to it BUT they did capture European football’s top prize making it an incredible SIX times they have managed to do so.
Klopp will no doubt make a few astute signings but it is one home-grown player who has been handed many plaudits of late thanks to a scintillating season all for the Anfield cause. That player is Trent Alexander-Arnold, still aged only 20, a graduate of the Kop academy. And is perhaps extra special that Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Conor Coady has chosen to heap praise on the young defender.
That’s because Coady, too, came through the youth ranks at Liverpool before he moved on. And he has pointed out just how massive an achievement it is for Alexander-Arnold to have not only broken into the first team but become an important cog in the glorious Reds machine.
In an interview with the official Liverpool website, Coady said:
“It’s incredible. People have to realise how tough it is to make it at such a big club like this and realise what he has actually done. How he has gone about his business is absolutely brilliant. You see how much he loves Liverpool Football Club, I’ve heard him talk plenty of times saying he wants to go on to be Liverpool captain, he wants to spend his career at Liverpool, this is his club – and you really believe him when he says it.
“I hope people realise how tough it is to make it at a club like this, because it is tough, and the achievement is remarkable. The Barcelona game, the corner, will live in every Liverpool fan’s mind for many, many years. To have that confidence to do that in front of the Kop was special.”
Meanwhile, one of Klopp’s targets is said to be on the verge of a switch to Merseyside from Real Betis. Highly-rated left-back Junior Firpo, who is aged 22, has a €50million release clause in his contract and it is being reported that the German coach is close to activating the trigger. It comes after Alberto Moreno, an understudy to Scotland international Andrew Robertson, departed after his deal expired.
Elsewhere, it looks increasingly likely that Marko Grujic is set to spend another term out on loan. The Serbian midfielder has been with Cardiff and Hertha Berlin over the past year and a half or so and is said to be developing well. His stint in the Bundesliga has alerted a number of potential suitors throughout Europe and it is expected that a deal with a new club can be concluded sooner rather than later.