Jurgen Klopp has admitted Liverpool cannot spend like clubs “owned by countries and oligarchs,” but believes the structure in his squad gives them another “advantage.”
The Reds have made just one signing in the current transfer window, with Kostas Tsimikas unlikely to be followed by any other additions before the Premier League begins on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have spent heavily on Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Malang Sarr, effectively transforming their squad in one summer.
Man City have also added Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake, and are plotting a move for Kalidou Koulibaly, and across the Premier League, most other sides have made significant signings.
The financial climate has restricted Liverpool, who are sticking to their ethos of sustainability, and Klopp insists he is comfortable within this, as he explained to BBC Radio 5 Live.
“We live in a world, at the moment, with a lot of uncertainty, obviously,” he told Kelly Cates.
“For some clubs it seems to be less important how uncertain the future is, owned by countries, owned by oligarchs, that’s the truth.
“We’re a different kind of club, it was always the same.
“We got to the Champions League final two years ago, we won the Champions League final last year and we won the Premier League last season by being the club we are, by being led the way we are led.
“So there’s nothing to say about it, we cannot just change it overnight and say ‘so, now we want to behave like Chelsea, now we want to behave like them’.”
Klopp also emphasised that, despite Frank Lampard’s squad being much stronger this season on paper, the consistency at Liverpool can give them an “advantage” over a side of stars not yet having struck up chemistry.
“They’ve signed a lot of players. That can be an advantage, of course, for them, but that means they have to fit together pretty quick as well,” the manager continued.
“So it’s not only about bringing in quality, you cannot bring in the 11 best players in the world and just hope a week later they play the best football they will ever play.
“It’s about working together on the training ground. That will probably be an advantage for us, we work quite a while with each other.
“I know people don’t want to hear that, but we did it last year pretty much that way.
“For our reasons, club reasons, we always want to improve the squad, but there are different ways.”
One of these “different ways” is keeping faith with the likes of Naby Keita and Takumi Minamino, along with belief in youngsters such as Curtis Jones, Neco Williams, Harvey Elliott and Billy Koumetio.
While it is hard to argue that Liverpool could not benefit from a major signing—and hopefully Thiago Alcantara is at Anfield by October 5—Klopp’s assessment is accurate, as the club have never operated in the same way as their richer rivals.
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