Despite having to prepare for one of the biggest games of his managerial career when Liverpool face Real Madrid in the Champions League final, Jürgen Klopp still found the time to sit down for a few hours with Sport/Foot in Belgium to discuss various things, including Brexit.
To turn a long story short, the German manager doesn’t think it’ll work, and believes the government should have given the people a second referendum as he thinks a number of Leave voters are ‘wondering what they’ve done’.
However, his views on British politics aren’t why we’re writing this article.
In the same interview, Klopp was also asked about the strong English contingent currently in his Liverpool squad, with players such as Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Adam Lallana key members of the Reds’ first-team.
He said: “They’re here because they’re very good, and not because they’re English or British, but if I had the choice between two players of similar ability, I’ll choose the English one. They create a good atmosphere and relate to the club atmosphere more easily.
“But we have formidable players from around the world who love the club. Roberto Firmino adores Liverpool, but the group leaders are the English. Tottenham and Liverpool are the core of the national team. That’s cool.”
It’ll be interesting to see what this means for the Champions League finalists going forward in the transfer market, and, as things stand, Klopp has signed two English players since taking over at Liverpool: Oxlade-Chamberlain and Dominic Solanke.
He’s also promoted Alexander-Arnold to the first-team, and surprised everyone by agreeing to bringing in Steven Caulker on loan from QPR in 2016.
