Klopp on Messi: "He has never played in another league other than in Spain. Football is different here. I would like to see it but I am not sure that I will"
Friday 28 August 2020 16:35, UK
Jurgen Klopp has ruled out Liverpool signing Lionel Messi this summer, but admits the Barcelona forward would prove a "great" addition for the Premier League should he move to an English club.
Messi has told Barcelona he wants to exercise a clause in his contract, allowing him to leave for free with immediate effect, but the La Liga club believe it has expired and the player is contracted until 2021 with a £626m (€700m) release clause.
Asked whether Liverpool would like to sign the Argentina international, Klopp replied: "Interest? Who doesn't want to have Messi in their team? But no chance. The numbers are absolutely not for us. But good player, to be honest!"
Sky Sports News has been told both Messi, who has played at the Nou Camp since 2004, and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola want to renew their partnership at the Etihad ahead of the new season.
"It will obviously help Manchester City and make it more difficult to beat them," added Klopp.
"For the Premier League, it would be great 100 per cent to have the best player in the world, that would help but I am not sure the Premier League needs that boost.
"But it would be a boost for sure. It would be interesting as well to see. He has never played in another league other than in Spain. Football is different here. I would like to see it but I am not sure that I will."
Liverpool face Arsenal in the Community Shield at Wembley on Saturday, less than five weeks after finishing 18 points clear of Guardiola's side in the delayed Premier League 2019/20 season.
Klopp will be without without a number of first-team regulars including captain Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but he confirmed Virgil van Dijk should be fit while he would make a late call on the availability of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
"I'd be surprised if we played our best game of the season - but it's not a friendly, it's a proper match against Arsenal," Klopp said.
Klopp believes he has to make the most of a situation that is not ideal.
"Would I want to play a proper game after two weeks' preparation? No. But we've known about it for a while," he said.
"We don't have friendlies, we have testing games. It's a competition and it's rare you have perfect time to prepare for a game."
The German manager was coy on whether the club would bolster their squad ahead of the new campaign starting on September 12, with the transfer window in England scheduled to close on October 5.
"We bought players in already! Kostas (Tsimikas), the kids are getting closer and look well. I don't know what will happen," he said.
"There is a long time to go until October 5. We will deal with our situation like we always have. We will see how much we can or want to spend."
Klopp also refused to be drawn on whether Liverpool would sign Georginio Wijnaldum, who has less than 12 months left on his current contract at Anfield, to a new deal.
Meanwhile, Klopp said the club were yet to make a decision on whether Rhian Brewster would be a part of his plans this season after the 20-year-old scored twice to earn Liverpool a 2-2 draw in their friendly against RB Salzburg on Tuesday.
"We want to use Rhian but we also want to help Rhian," Klopp said. "That is why we have to make decisions, but not now. He looks really promising. He can score goals.
"He is still a young boy and, especially with his position as a number nine, experience helps a lot. We have to see how we can give him experience - whether it is here or somewhere else.
"But there's no absolutely reason to rush anything. He will be involved tomorrow in the squad for sure."
