Klopp: Liverpool need to buy “the right player” after Matip injury

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that the club need to find the “right player” after a serious injury to Joel Matip. 

The central defender was forced to come off midway through his side’s 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday night. 

Matip’s injury – alongside long-term injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez – means the English champions now have no fully fit first-choice central defenders to pick from ahead of their next match. 

When asked about the situation following the match, Klopp admitted that Matip’s injury “looks serious” and that the club may have to bring someone in before the January transfer window slams shut. 

“You can imagine that we can think about everything,” Klopp told the media after his side’s first Premier League win since December 19. 

“We think the whole time it’s about doing the right thing. I’m not picky but we need to find the right player.”

Liverpool have been surprisingly vigilant in the transfer window this season, turning to make-shift solutions rather than buying new defenders to fill in for the injured ones. 

Fabinho and club captain Jordan Henderson have both played in central defence at points this season, while young and relatively untested defenders like Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips have also been promoted to the first team to help deal with the injury crisis. 

Whether Liverpool will now be able to find an ideal defensive target before the window closes on February 1 undoubtedly remains to be seen. 

It certainly seems as though the club and Klopp were hoping to make do with what they had within their current squad but the Liverpool manager has now suggested that they may be left with no other choice than to sign another central defender. 

Whether or not an ideal defender can be identified and his club would be willing to sell him in the middle of the season is another matter entirely.