Here is your Liverpool morning digest for Monday, March 7.
Jurgen Klopp makes Liverpool transfer admission
Jurgen Klopp says the signings of Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz were "necessary" to stave off an over-reliance on Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah at Liverpool.
Jota arrived in September 2020 from Wolves for around £45m before Diaz was signed after a deal was concluded with Porto in January for a fee that could rise up to £50m.
Jota is now firmly established as a key man for Klopp's attack while Diaz's first few weeks as a Liverpool player have been electric.
Klopp said the signatures of both were needed to keep an attack fresh as Liverpool's fight on all fronts continues this season.
PAUL GORST: What Jurgen Klopp did at full-time confirms what Man City already know about Liverpool
IAN DOYLE: Luis Diaz reaction speaks volumes as Naby Keita makes point
“It was necessary," Klopp said. "We cannot (over) rely on these boys.
"We had on top of those Divock Origi, Taki Minamino, we had Xherdan Shaqiri here, all brilliant players who helped us to win the things we won in the past.
“Obviously you need to bring in quality and fresh energy and that’s what we tried and that obviously it looks like it worked out.
“The boys we have now are really quality in depth.
"But we cannot play all competitions and go far if we don’t have this depth. You have no chance.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Bruno Lage slams former Liverpool defender
Wolves boss Bruno Lage has launched into a rather bizarre rant about former Liverpool youngster Ki-Jana Hoever.
The Reds sold the versatile defender to Wolves in the summer of 2020 in a deal that could potentially reach £13.5million.
Liverpool received an initial sum of £9m for the young Dutchman with a further £4.5m in add-ons.
A 15 per cent sell-on clause was also agreed as part of the deal for a player they have always rated highly in the Academy ranks.
Hoever initially joined Liverpool from Ajax in 2018, but his time at Anfield ended with just four appearances to his name.
Since moving to Wolves, Hoever has struggled to establish himself as a regular starter, which hasn’t been helped by a change in manager with Lage replacing Nuno Espirito Santo last summer.
Wolves’ latest game saw them suffer a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, with Hoever playing just 25 minutes of the contest before being withdrawn just to a muscular injury.
After the game, Lage was asked about Hoever’s fitness and instead provided a scathing assessment of the 20-year-old’s recent form.
“Ki is a good example of the young kids, they want everything to happen (now),” said Lage, in his post-match press conference.
“When you are out and your teammate is playing, and you are not training at the intensity, you are not preparing yourself and after, when you have a chance, these kinds of things happen.
“I have too many kids in my team that sometimes don’t work the way they should work. They do not prepare the way they should prepare and after, when they come inside (the team), these kind of things happen.
“When they are in training they are thinking a lot, ‘Oh I’m not playing’, and I said to them in the first day when I started, ‘We are here, you need to continue to work. The first target is to work and improve.’
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