Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp laughed at past comments about his reluctance to spend heavily on a single player, defending the club’s big-money signing of Darwin Nunez from Benfica on Thursday.
Speaking in Singapore ahead of Friday’s pre-season friendly against Crystal Palace, the Anfield boss was reminded by reporters of a 2018 remark where he said he would not spend £100 million ($118 million) on a player wanted.
Fans mocked the German after his club agreed a deal with Benfica for Uruguay striker Nunez, which could see him paying up to £85 million ($100.4 million) with the add-on.
However, Klopp laughed at the question, saying that the transfer market has changed since he commented.
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“When you want to sign an exciting striker like Darwin, it’s the market and you have to pay the price,” Klopp said.
“I’ve said a lot of things in my life that took hold of me later on and showed me how quickly life can change,” he said.
Nunez has been heavily criticized on social media after a poor performance in his first game for Liverpool after missing out on an open goal after losing 4-0 to Manchester United in Bangkok on Tuesday.
Klopp said the criticism was unfair and backed Uruguay to be good for the Reds.
“The only real important thing is how I judge the situation and I couldn’t be more calm or completely confident of his ability,” said the German.
He also downplayed the humiliating defeat to arch-rivals United, saying his focus was not on results but on preparing his players for the start of the new season.
“Do I like losing 4-0 against Man United? Absolutely not, but we can’t judge our pre-season just by doing well in games,” he said.
The German said the pre-season matches his team is playing were important, “but the more important games are coming in two weeks and then we have to be ready”.
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