Jurgen Klopp explains why Liverpool can afford Moises Caicedo but not Jude Bellingham
- Liverpool have agreed a £111m fee to sign Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo
- The Reds had pulled out of a similarly expensive deal for Jude Bellingham, who later joined Real Madrid
- Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia remains a target for Liverpool
By Tom Gott
Jurgen Klopp has admitted Liverpool did not expect to have the money to pursue Moises Caicedo when they pulled out of the race to sign Jude Bellingham earlier this summer.
Bellingham was Liverpool's top target heading into the summer transfer window but, when the true cost of the deal was set, the Reds ultimately pulled out and Bellingham ended up joining Real Madrid for an initial £88.5m.
Since then, however, Liverpool agreed to the surprise sales of both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, who moved to Saudi Arabia, and Klopp admitted that unplanned income played a part in the £111m move for Caicedo.
"I can confirm that the deal with the club is agreed," Klopp told a press conference when asked about the Caicedo bid.
"What did change? We are a club, we have not endless resources, we didn't expect a couple of things happening in the summer - Hendo, Fab, stuff like this. We didn't think about this before the summer to be honest, and when it happened, we gave it a go. Obviously the club was really stretched, to be honest."
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Klopp went on to insist he knew nothing else about Liverpool's move for Caicedo, stressing he had "no idea" whether the Ecuador international was due for a medical on Friday.
The pursuit of Caicedo came after Liverpool had a third bid rejected for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia. Chelsea went on to offer £48m for the Belgian shortly before the Reds took control of the Caicedo race.
Asked whether signing Caicedo would end Liverpool's pursuit of Lavia, Klopp urged fans to wait and see how things play out.
"Let's talk about that if it happens," he said. "It's nothing I can really say, that's the truth. Let's do it step by step, let's see what happens in the next hours or days and then go from there."
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