Klopp makes FSG Liverpool transfer vow as Mac Allister talks ‘advance’

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will not overpay for their top transfer targets but remains “pretty confident” he will get several players from his summer shortlist in the coming months. The Reds are set to chase at least two central midfielders with Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister emerging as a new priority.

That’s after Fenway Sports Group and Klopp walked away from the prospect of signing Jude Bellingham. Bellingham now appears to be Real Madrid bound and Liverpool opted not to rival the reigning European champions for the England international.

That was because the cost would have taken up almost all of the Merseyside club’s budget after wages. With the likelihood they will not have Champions League finances this summer, Liverpool want to ensure they have the funds for a rebuild of their midfield.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and James Milner will all depart on free transfers while captain Jordan Henderson (32 but 33 next month), Fabinho (30 in October) and Thiago Alcantara (32) are all only getting older. Elsewhere, Stefan Bajcetic and Harvey Elliott are just 18 and 20 though there are hopes that 22-year-old Curtis Jones can now become a regular starter.

Asked how they will respond if clubs hike up their prices when Liverpool come calling, knowing their need for new blood in the middle of the park, Klopp admitted: “We cannot buy the player then. if they are overpriced we cannot do it.”

Brighton are expected to demand at least £70million for World Cup winner Mac Allister this summer. The Guardian say talks are advancing with the Argentine and his representatives. Yet the Liverpool manager – who also admires Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch among others – added: “But we will bring in players.

“I am pretty sure we will bring in the players we want and those who will help us. I am pretty confident of that. You never know 100 per cent until they are signed, but that is not new that some clubs might try that.”

Klopp says Liverpool have plenty of back-up options this time around after 12 months ago opting not to sign a midfielder because Real Madrid landed their No 1 option Aurelien Tchouameni. He said: “Let me say it like this: you identify a position and you have not only one option on the position. That means they should all be good, to be honest really good.

“You might have a favourite but if the other club doesn’t want to sell or someone else will pay the price, we cannot go with it. But usually we got the players we wanted. The one thing is can we afford them and then they are here. I don’t think too much about that to be honest.”

Mount appears to be one of the most attainable midfielders with his Chelsea contract up in 12 months’ time and the Blues needing to sell players after spending nearly £600m on 16 new signings in the past two windows. The England playmaker could still cost a minimum of £50m though.

Bayern do not want to sell Gravenberch who they bought from Ajax for a potential £20m last summer. But Mac Allister’s fellow Brighton team-mate Moises Caicedo, Sporting Lisbon’s Manuel Ugarte, Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, Matheus Nunes of Wolves and Mount’s Chelsea team-mate Conor Gallagher are other midfielders linked with a summer switch to Anfield.