Amid the rumors that link Liverpool to high-profile attackers Kylian Mbappe and Jadon Sancho, manager Jurgen Klopp has made clear that signing the two is not in his immediate plan for the Anfield side. The German said his focus is on the existing Reds roster, which he noted consists of equally capable strikers.
The thought of working with world-class players excites him, Klopp admitted but he added that for Liverpool, dreaming about talents not on his roster is out of the question.
The Reds boss addressed the speculations that he might lure Mbappe out of Paris Saint-Germain and Sancho away from Borussia Dortmund. The Frenchman is tipped as a priority target by Real Madrid while the England international is said to inch closer on a summer transfer deal with Manchester United.
On Mbappe. Klopp made clear that bringing the PSG ace to Liverpool is next to impossible due to the high price tag attached to the French superstar, thought to be around £250 million for the transfer fee alone.
"[Buying] this caliber of player is difficult ... I don't think there is a club in the world that can buy Kylian Mbappe from PSG, that is how it is," Liverpool Echo reported the German boss as saying.
As for Sancho, Klopp insisted that a deal on the 20-year-old for Liverpool is non-existent and even if it did, no word would be coming from him.
Klopp said: "I have no clue where these kind of things are coming from, but it cannot come from us because we never speak about it. If we would be involved, nobody would know about it apart from a person who wouldn't speak about it. There's nothing to say."
He added that Liverpool having these top-notch players would be welcome as "they are all exceptional players ... I love them all and there's a few more players out there."
The German continued that rising superstars like Mbappe and Sancho have always been on the wish list of any coach in the same way that big names such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will generate the same level of excitement for teams they would be joining up with.
"The players they are now because of their own attitude, because of their skills and all that stuff, and I love watching them but I have no problem that I never trained one of them," Metro reported Klopp as saying.
Yet he reiterated that what he has at Liverpool is more than sufficient for him, pointing out that Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are both talented and young enough to compete with the likes of Mbappe and Sancho.
"I am completely happy with the boys that I have, but I never thought about the others. When I am at a club then I work with the players I have ... We will make the best of the situation we have," Klopp explained.
