José is at it again
José Mourinho and Jürgen Klopp have been indulging in a low-key war of words over the course of the past week, after Mourinho saw a chance to undermind comments made by Klopp two years ago.
When Paul Pogba rejoined Manchester United for a fee of around £90m, Klopp was critical of spending so much money on one player, suggesting that if they get injured, you are back to square one.
Klopp has developed a reputation for himself as a manager who builds excellent team units with not much money, but many people have cited Liverpool’s spending this summer as evidence of Klopp’s hypocrisy.
Of course, the transfer market has significantly inflated over the past few years and if Klopp is to win silverware at Liverpool, he will have to spend.
“That’s the problem these days, you say something and whatever bullshit you say, nobody will forget it,” Klopp said.
“I could not imagine that the world would change like that – two and a half years ago, £100 million was crazy money, since then the world obviously changed since then.”
The Liverpool boss was today asked by Sky Sports whether he thought Mourinho was trying to entice him in a battle of mind games. Klopp’s response was affirmative.
“Yeah, for sure, a little bit but that’s okay,” he said.
“But I heard as well that Jose found me funny and one of my biggest goals in life is to make José smile! It doesn’t happen too often and if it happens because of Liverpool – well done,” he added.
“I said a few things [in the past]. I cannot really remember what I said but I know what I said about the Pogba transfer.
“We would never talk about Manchester United unless somebody asks me about it but I am polite enough to give an answer if somebody asks me.
“That’s not always the smartest thing to do, and I have absolutely no problem with what Jose Mourinho is saying. It is a free world and he can say whatever he wants.
“If he is happy about our transfers even better, but we know that it does not mean you win automatically whatever.”
Klopp knows exactly what Mourinho is trying to do, and he seems unlikely to fall into his trap.
