Jürgen Klopp has said Liverpool may need a new forward in January because of Danny Ings’s injury setback and Sadio Mané’s international commitments.
The Liverpool manager is reluctant to move in the winter transfer market and, ideally, would have concluded this season’s business in the summer but he has been forced into a rethink by Ings’s latest knee problem. The former Burnley striker is expected to miss the rest of the campaign after undergoing surgery on Thursday on a cartilage injury suffered in the EFL Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur last week. “The surgery was very positive and the rehab has started already,” said Klopp. “We will wait for him and give him all the time he needs. He will be back again and will be a Liverpool player 100%.”
However, with Mané scheduled to be involved in Senegal’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign in January, Klopp believes the loss of Ings could leave his squad exposed at a crucial time and in need of reinforcement. It will fall to Michael Edwards to identify potential targets and negotiate any transfers after his appointment as Liverpool’s first sporting director was confirmed on Friday.
The Liverpool manager admitted a replacement for Ings was needed. “Yes, we watch the market all the time and we need to be prepared for different situations and one of them is injuries. The Africa Cup of Nations we already knew about so we don’t need to be influenced or surprised about that but it could be a moment when we approach the market.
“It’s not about how many strikers. Three strikers is enough, I think, but when Sadio is away we will be without a winger. We do not have many wingers, I would say. Roberto Firmino could play as a kind of a winger which would then give us just two strikers. That’s how it is. But it is a long way to go until January and that month is busy. If we can go to the semi-final of League Cup [Liverpool are at home to Leeds United in the quarter-finals] it could be the busiest month of the year. We need to be prepared for this for sure.”
Klopp could also lose the influential defender Joël Matip to the Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled to be played in Gabon from 14 January to 5 February, but does not expect the Cameroon international to feature in the tournament. Matip played in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups but rejected the chance to go to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
“I would say yes,” the Liverpool manager replied when asked whether he expected the defender to remain on Merseyside. “But I’ve not spoken to him about this yet. I know it’s a different situation to Sadio because he lived in Senegal whereas Joël was brought up in Germany.
“As a manager you are not too happy when you don’t have players in January but I’m not the person to say anything about the Africa Cup of Nations. It is their big tournament and you can’t say: ‘Play it in summer.’ That is quite difficult in Africa. As a manager I do not like it but it is three weeks, we knew it before, and you have to find a solution.”
Liverpool host Watford on Sunday looking to maintain their joint-leadership of the Premier League and extend their unbeaten run at Anfield to 19 matches. Jordan Henderson’s influence on the run, believes Klopp, is finally getting the recognition it deserves, with the Liverpool captain having completed more successful passes – 830 – than any other player in the Premier League.
Klopp added: “How old is Hendo? Twenty-six. He’s really young and yet everyone seemed to have already judged him, saying: ‘He can do this, he’s good at that but he’ll never learn this.’ He’s 26. All these guys I have – and especially the English guys – are thinking the whole day about football and how they can improve.
“I like this. I like this in Jordan, he wants to work and improve, so let’s use all their skills. Don’t be surprised that Jordan is top of the passing. Look at the details, too – at 26 years he is a very responsible person, a very serious person and a really good skipper.”
