(Reuters) – Liverpool cannot compete with Manchester City’s financial power, manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday, adding that their Premier League rivals and some other clubs “can do what they want”.
Second-placed City visit Liverpool in the weekend’s most anticipated Premier League clash on Sunday as they are 13 points clear of Klopp’s side, who have a game in hand.
Asked how Liverpool could keep up with Pep Guardiola’s team, who won the Premier League for the fourth time in five seasons in May, Klopp replied that nobody could.
“You will not like the answer, and you all have the answer already. Nobody can compete with City in that,” he said.
“You have the best team in the world and you put in the best striker on the market. No matter what it costs, you just do it.
“I know City will not like it, nobody will like it, you’ve asked the question but you know the answer. What does Liverpool do? We cannot act like them. It is not possible.”
City signed Norwegian striker Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund in a deal reported to be worth 51 million pounds ($56.97 million) in the close season but the multi-year deal, including his salary, could exceed 300 million euros.
“There are three clubs in world football who can do what they want financially,” Klopp said. He was referring to the United Arab Emirates owners of City, the majority Saudi ownership of Newcastle United and Paris St Germain, which has a Qatari owner.
“It’s legal and everything, fine, but they can do what they want. It is not a problem at all for me, it’s like it is.”
($1 = 0.8953 pounds)
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; editing by Grant McCool)
