Jurgen Klopp has tempered expectations around Liverpool's potential January transfer business, admitting that he 'doesn't see' any more new faces coming into the club this month – following the arrival of Cody Gakpo.
Liverpool have endured a torrid campaign, with Klopp describing Saturday's 3-0 league defeat away to Brighton as the worst of his seven-year tenure.
As the Reds' struggles have continued, calls for reinforcements – not least in midfield, where they have frequently looked alarmingly frail (although their manager has pointed to wider structural problems) – have intensified.
Fans shouldn't hold out too much hope of any transfer activity in the final couple of weeks of the current window, though. In a press conference before Tuesday's FA Cup third round replay at Wolves, Klopp explained the situation, citing a lack of squad space as one possible obstacle:
"We look ‘outside’ as well. It’s not that we are stubborn and think: ‘That’s it, we will go with these boys [the current squad] until 2050!’. That’s not how we see it. It’s all about what you can do, and what you want to do as well.
"But what you can do is much more important ... If the solutions were out there for us, available and doable, we would bring in players to help – but we have an existing squad as well.
"We are underperforming, definitely; I know that – but I cannot sit here all the time and blame everybody else. It’s my responsibility that they perform. That’s my first concern, my first job to do.
"And yes we have limited options, but we have players with a contract here who are just not available. If they all were, it would be a different situation for sure.
"If we bring in [new] players, we cannot put them all on the Premier League list or the Champions League list – our squad is not too small! We need to strengthen – oh yes – but is now the right moment to do it?
"I can’t see it because of the situation we are in. I cannot change the answer every week because the situation doesn’t change, even though we lost another game."
Liverpool's latest loss – their second in a row in the Premier League, after a 3-1 reversal at Brentford – has left them languishing in ninth, 10 points off the Champions League places after 18 games.
Following the FA Cup replay against Wolves, the Reds host similarly out-of-form Chelsea in the league on Saturday.
