Saturday 10 March 2018 09:42, UK
Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool are prepared to pay "big money" in the summer as he looks to build a squad capable of challenging for the Premier League title.
Liverpool smashed their record transfer fee to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for £75m in January, while the Reds also spent heavily to recruit both Mohamed Salah (£39.5m) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£40m) in the summer.
Liverpool have already agreed to pay £48m for RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita at the end of the season and Klopp insists the club is now in a position to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United in the next transfer market.
"When the player is the right player it is not important how expensive he was. He needs to fit in the team, that's why we paid the price," Klopp, referring to the signing of Van Dijk, told The Telegraph.
"This club will do what we have to do. The owners are ready for that. That was the sign for it but it doesn't mean we only spend in this [expensive] category.
"It's all about timing, doing the right thing at the right moment. If the player is the right player this club will pay big money. If it's not the right player, it's not the value of the player.
"The transfer fees only jumped in the last year. We cannot say the exact numbers but was it £40m for Mo Salah? I would say that's decent money but it looks like, 'what's that?'
"Everybody asks Roma, 'How can you do that?' That's strange."
Liverpool can leapfrog rivals Manchester United into second in the Premier League if they beat the Red Devils at Old Trafford on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League.
