Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp says he would be interested
in adding Barcelona captain Lionel Messi to his Premier League-winning squad
but there is no chance it would happen because of the astronomical amount of
money involved.
Messi stunned world soccer earlier this week when he
expressed his desire to leave Barcelona after nearly two decades with the
Catalan club.
When asked if he would like to bring the Argentine forward
to Anfield, Klopp said: "Interest? Yeah, who doesn't want Messi in their
team. The numbers are absolutely not for us. We don't even start thinking about
it. No chance! But... good player."
A study by French newspaper L'Equipe earlier this year said
Messi earns 8.2 million euros per month from Barca, way more than Juventus
forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Paris St Germain striker Neymar, who earn 4.5
million and 3 million respectively.
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, who finished 18 points
behind champions Liverpool last season, appear to be the favourites to sign the
six-times world player of the year who has won every major title with
Barcelona.
Some of Messi's best moments on the Camp Nou pitch came
under the guidance of former Barca coach Guardiola.
"It would make it even more difficult to beat them
(City) which was already very difficult," Klopp told a news conference
ahead of Saturday's Community Shield clash with FA Cup winners Arsenal at
Wembley.
"For the Premier League, it would be great having the
best player in the world in the league. I'm not sure the Premier League needs a
boost but it would be.
"It would be interesting too because Messi has never
played in another league apart from Spain. I would like to see it but I'm not
sure if I will."
Both sets of players will take a knee at Wembley in support
of the Black Lives matter campaign which has again been in the news after the
police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin on Sunday -- an incident that has
provoked widespread protests in sports across the U.S.
"I've followed it in America, racism, Black Lives
Matter, all these things, dealing with it all will stay with us for a long
time," Klopp said. "As long as people don't really get or understand
it, we have to mention equality."
Klopp confirmed centre back Virgil van Dijk is fit to face
Arsenal after recovering from a head injury sustained during Liverpool's
pre-season friendly with RB Salzburg.
"He looks not good because he has the cut there, but
apart from that it should be fine," Klopp added.
Jordan Henderson is also set to play but Trent
Alexander-Arnold may miss out because of injury. "Trent's very close but
we have to make a decision about him tomorrow," Klopp said.
With the transfer window open until October, Klopp said
Liverpool would "look constantly for improvement" but is satisfied
with the size of his squad.
"We will see how much we can and want to spend,"
he said. Reuters
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