Klopp rules out Liverpool sales in transfer window

London (AFP) – Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has no intention of allowing any of his players to leave the club in the January transfer window as he closes in on the Premier League title.

Klopp’s side are 13 points clear of defending champions Manchester City with two matches in hand and look certain to be crowned English champions for the first time since 1990.

Unbeaten Liverpool face Wolves away on Thursday, seeking their 22nd win out of 23 Premier League matches this season.

Sevilla and Roma have made tentative approaches regarding a loan deal for Xherdan Shaqiri, who is currently unfit, but Klopp said there was no plan for any departures.

“We had the majority of December and January with a bench full of kids,” Klopp said at his pre-match press conference. “Wonderful kids, but kids, so how could we think about giving a player to anybody? I don’t understand that.

“It’s not about Shaq, it’s about pretty much everybody. We just have to keep them for sorting our situation and not the situation for different clubs.”

Klopp said despite his team’s rampant form, they could still get better, highlighting the need for better concentration.

“There’s a lot of space for improvement,” he said. “What can we do in situations like that (the 2-0 win against Manchester United on Sunday)? How can we help ourselves? How lively can we stay even without creating constantly?”

“We need to find a common way in these situations to still dominate the game in a slightly different manner,” he added.

Klopp hailed goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who provided an assist for Mohamed Salah in the dying seconds of the match at Anfield.

The Brazil international has not conceded a goal in the Premier League since late November and Klopp said he had “exceeded expectations” since joining the club in 2018.

“As a goalkeeper we knew what we were getting,” said the Liverpool boss. “OK, yes he has made steps which is normal in his life and in the training he gets. As a person he has exceeded expectations. He’s an outstanding guy.”

“We knew we were getting a really good goalkeeper,” Klopp added. “His character is calm and it helps us a lot. His goalkeeping techniques improve, making the difficult things look easy but you have to stay like this.

“With goalkeepers you make one little mistake and the ball is in the goal. That is the life of goalkeepers.”