Report: Jurgen Klopp hints at potential summer exits

Jurgen Klopp admits players could leave Liverpool due to lack of game time

Speaking to Sky Sports as quoted by the Daily Mail, Jurgen Klopp has admitted that players who have not had sufficient game time could be on their way out of Liverpool come to the summer transfer window.

The German manager put it down to the immense quality of the squad that in turn makes the fringe players struggle for minutes. He mentioned Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino in particular as players who deserve to be given more game time and could search for pastures new in the summer.

Origi has scored five goals in 14 games across competitions this season which included an important stoppage-time winner against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League. Minamino has been excellent for the Reds whenever he has played this season, already scoring nine goals in the limited opportunities he has got.

Klopp alluded to the fact that both these forwards are closer to the exit door and that he felt bad for not being able to give them more game time.

‘It is incredibly hard for [Origi] and for me”

‘Taki Minamino [the same, as he] is in an incredible moment”

The German manager has however reaffirmed that the core group has to be kept intact at Anfield for the immediate future and beyond. It makes sense given that the German has relied upon a select core of stars in his tenure at Anfield.

How would it affect the Reds?

Both Minamino and Origi have been great squad players for Liverpool, with the latter even achieving cult status at Anfield.

If both of them were to leave the coming summer, then Klopp would have to be in the market for replacements to reinforce the squad depth in the forward areas. Origi and Minamino might not be the only players leaving Anfield though, with other fringe players also seeking the possibility to move elsewhere for regular game time.

Klopp insisted on the fact of keeping the core group intact but the Reds could be in for a rude shock if the contract talks with Mohamed Salah don’t improve and the Egyptian also ends up leaving.

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Mane and Firmino could also be up for contract extensions very soon and the German manager may find himself shopping for more than just rotational players if things don’t go as planned.