Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he was “angry” for failing to land one transfer ahead of their match against Ajax on Wednesday night.
The Reds will travel to the Amsterdam Arena tonight as they face Alfred Schreuder’s side in a crucial Champions League group stage match.
Klopp is likely to face former Southampton winger Dusan Tadic with the Liverpool manager revealing he was “angry” at himself for missing out on signing the attacker in previous years.
Tadic made a good impression in the Premier League over four seasons, contributing 20 goals and 27 assists during his time at Southampton.
The Serbian moved to Ajax in 2018 in a deal worth £12.3m and he’s set the Dutch capital alight with 94 goals and 98 assists in 209 matches for the Eredivisie side.
And Klopp admits he was gutted that he missed out on signing Tadic before he moved to Ajax four years ago.
The Liverpool boss told RTL: “I love him [Tadic] as a player.
“I was very angry with myself when he went to Ajax, because I was also interested in him.”
Speaking in 2019, Tadic admitted that he left Southampton to move to a less physical league after insisting he had numerous offers from the Premier League.
“I had a lot of offers. There were a lot of teams who offered money, a lot of teams from the Premier League and offers from other countries like Italy.
“My heart is close to Holland. I like Holland and Ajax was always my dream club. In Holland, and in other countries, you are protected [by referees]. If they touch you a little bit, it’s a foul.
“We [Southampton] were getting worse and worse. We sold a lot of players and, after that, it was difficult. When you are there when it was the best, and after when it’s not so good, you feel a little bit like you need to go.”
Liverpool know that by avoiding defeat against Ajax they will qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League but Virgil van Dijk has warned his Reds team-mates that they must start showing consistency.
“It was a very, very intense, difficult week, six days actually. A fantastic win against City, a difficult (1-0 home) win against West Ham (last Wednesday), and then an away game, early kick-off, against Forest. We tried everything.
“We know that our performance in general has to be as consistent like how it always was, and that’s what we try to do.
“There are always reasons for why things are not going as well, and we try to sort that and do everything in our power to do that, that’s what we work for.”
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