The Liverpool manager has revealed that the Reds would have gladly welcomed their prodigal son back to Anfield if the club had been able to afford his purchase.
Jurgen Klopp has backed the Brazilian attacker to shine at Bayern Munich while taking the opportunity to make it clear that Liverpool were never in to resign Philippe Coutinho because the Anfield giants had already used up the funds received for his sale.
After a summer of being linked with virtually every top club in Europe, Coutinho finally made the switch to the Bundesliga champions, on Monday, joining on a season-long loan from Barcelona with Bayern holding an option to buy for €120million.
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Bayern are expected to pay an initial €8.5m loan fee and the star’s wages, a financial condition Klopp insist the European champions could not afford for the 27-year-old who starred for five seasons at Anfield before moving to Camp Nou.
“It sounds a bit strange, but we could not afford it,” he said at the Sport Bild awards on Monday.
“We have already spent the money that we got for him.”
“He’s a great player, a great boy,” the former Borussia Dortmund coach said.
“We were reluctant to sell him, but Barcelona forced us with money, so to speak.
“He is a player who can change games for the positive. It’s not that nice for Dortmund, but it’s a great transfer for Bayern and the Bundesliga.”
