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Jurgen Klopp V Jose Mourinho? German Won’t Get Into Fight With Manchester United Manager

By Gregory Wakeman
Published on: 05:34 PST, Aug 14, 2016

Jurgen Klopp has responded to Jose Mourinho’s comments regarding Liverpool and the the German’s own remarks about Manchester United’s £89 million purchase of Paul Pogba from Juventus by immediately try to quash any dispute.

After being presented with Jose Mourinho’s rebuke to Klopp’s original comments, the Liverpool manager refused to respond, instead insisting that he is more than happy with the funds and backing that he has had from Liverpool’s owners in recent weeks.

Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s 4-3 over Arsenal on the opening day of the Premier League season, Klopp said, via ESPN, “I’m absolutely not interested in what other clubs are doing, there’s absolutely no point. I’m focused on here. I cannot criticise what they are doing, I don’t want to criticise the market.”

Klopp continued, “If they spent money for players then they are convinced, I’m sure, about quality, they have the money hopefully, then do it. We spent money and not five pounds! Decent money. It’s better that we have money and maybe we’ll get a little bit more before August 31. It looks healthy. It makes sense that it looks something like healthy. You buy, you sell.”

“It’s not about going to the owners and saying, ‘I don’t want to do it.’ Not because they won’t do it. They are really on our side. We want to have success, we need to have success and all the others too. You need to find a way for you which could work because nobody knows.”

Speaking about the pressure that can materialize when a player moves to a club for a huge amount, Klopp tried to downplay that it’s undue and can affect their performance. “[Does] the big price on a player’s back make you more confident? I don’t believe in it. This player can be injured and then maybe you’ve got a bigger hole. I’m not interested.”

“In the transfer window and especially in the summer before the Premier League starts, all everybody talks about is transfers. I understand this, it’s nice. I read it, I think, ‘Wow.’ If it’s about us I know it’s bull**** and if it’s not I think ‘that could be possible, that’s really interesting.’ It’s all about expectation.”

Klopp actually only has himself to blame for this little argument that’s now been brought to an end before it ever really began. Despite spending £34 million on Sadio Mane and £23 million on Georginio Wijnaldum, Klopp decided to register his disgust that Manchester United were allegedly about to spend £100 million on Paul Pogba. They ultimately spent just £89 million on him.

“If you bring one player in for £100 million and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney,” Klopp declared, via ESPN. “The day that this is football, I’m not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together. That is how everybody in football understands it. You always want to have the best, but building the group is necessary to be successful.”

“Other clubs can go out and spend more money and collect top players. I want to do it differently. I would even do it differently if I could spend that money. I don’t know exactly how much money we could spend because nobody has told me, ‘No, you can’t do this.’ If I spend money, it is because I am trying to build a team, a real team. Barcelona did it. You can win championships, you can win titles, but there is a manner in which you want it.”

This then provoked Mourinho to insist that Klopp and Arsene Wenger, who had also made comments about United’s Pogba signing, were only criticising the amount United have spent because neither Liverpool or Arsenal were in a position to spend so much money.

[Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images]

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