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LONDON: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he would be interested in adding Barcelona captain Lionel Messi to his Premier League winning team, but a deal is out of the question due to the astronomical amount of money involved.
Messi shocked world football earlier this week when he expressed his desire to leave Barcelona after nearly two decades with the Catalan club.
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When asked if he would be happy to bring the Argentine forward to Anfield, Klopp said: “Interest? Yeah, who doesn’t want Messi on their team?
“But there is no possibility. The numbers are not at all for us. But … good player.”
A study by French newspaper L’Equipe earlier this year said Messi earns 8.2 million euros a month with Barcelona, far more than Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo and Paris striker St Germain Neymar, who earn 4.5 million euros and 3 million euros respectively.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City is one of the favorites to sign the six-time world player of the year who has won every major title with Barcelona.
Some of Messi’s best moments on the Camp Nou pitch came under the direction of former Barça coach Guardiola, whose city team finished 18 points behind Liverpool in a distant second place last season.
“It would make it even more difficult to beat them (City),” Klopp told a press conference ahead of Saturday’s (August 29) Community Shield game between Liverpool and Arsenal at Wembley.
“For the Premier League, it would be great. I would like to see it, but I’m not sure if I will.”
Klopp confirmed that center-back Virgil van Dijk is fit to face Arsenal after recovering from a head injury sustained during Liverpool’s pre-season friendly with RB Salzburg.
“Virgil looks good, he doesn’t look good because he has the cut there, but other than that, he should be fine,” Klopp added.
