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Jurgen Klopp makes Liverpool summer transfer promise within minutes of season ending
Liverpool already knew they would not qualify for the Champions League before the final day of the season, and rounded things off with a 4-4 draw away to Southampton
Jurgen Klopp expects to be busy this summer as his Liverpool side prepare for a season in the Europa League.
The Reds couldn’t build on last season’s second-place finish, instead dropping to fifth despite ending the campaign with a long unbeaten run. There was high drama on the final day, as Klopp’s men led 2-0 and trailed 4-2 before claiming an eventual 4-4 draw against relegated Southampton.
With senior stars including Roberto Firmino set to leave this summer, the Anfield club are expected to invest in their squad. Alexis Mac Allister is among those linked with a move, with the Argentina star expected to leave Brighton, but Klopp has suggested his team could invest in every position aside from goalkeeper.
“These last few weeks gave me a lot of energy,” Klopp told Sky Sports after the Southampton game. “I have holiday now but I’m not ready for it, really, I don’t need it if I’m honest.
“Of course we will be busy – for me more on the phone than anything else,” he added when the topic of transfers was brought up. “That’s kind of work as well but that will be fine, I’m happy to do that, and we will see.
“Six weeks until we can influence the football again, our football again, and only a few of [the players] now have rest. A few have two or three days and they go in different camps with national teams and stuff like that. The most important thing is that they come back healthy, eighth or eleventh of July. Then they arrive and we go from there.
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“We will remind ourselves that we have to do better and we will do better, and that’s clear,” Klopp had earlier said as he reflected on the final day draw and the season as a whole. “People are devastated about our season and I understand that, we are really not happy about it.
“It looked for a while already like that, and you cannot and should not keep an anger in the situation when you turn things slightly around. We didn’t lose the last 11 or 12 games, that’s good if you would have started the season like that or would have had that in the middle of the season, we would be in a different position.
“There’s still a lot of potential there, we have to use it much more often and we cannot be as open as we were today for counter-attacks. That’s clear.”
Liverpool started quickly at St Mary’s with Diogo Jota and the departing Firmino putting them two to the good, only for Southampton to fight back with a goal from James Ward-Prowse, two from Kamaldeen Sulemana and a fourth from substitute Adam Armstrong. Reds sub Cody Gakpo pulled one back, though, before Jota’s second of the afternoon ensured the game ended all-square.
Liverpool knew they would finish fifth whatever the result, and ultimately finished four points behind fourth-placed Newcastle. Southampton finished bottom of the table with just 26 points, and will rebuild in the Championship with a new manager as Ruben Selles leaves the club.
