- Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has dismissed speculation linking Xherdan Shaqiri with a loan move to Italy, saying the club has no intention for that yet.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has dismissed speculation linking Xherdan Shaqiri with a loan move to Italy, saying the club has no intention for that yet.
Klopp said that the club had no plan of letting any of their first-team players leave in the January transfer window.
Shaqiri has been restricted to only 10 appearances for Liverpool across all competitions and Italian media has reported that AS Roma want the 28-year-old Swiss playmaker on loan until the end of the season.
However, Klopp underlined the importance of squad depth as Liverpool seeks to secure their first league title in 30 years and defend their Champions League crown in the second half of the season.
“We had the majority of December and January with a bench full of kids. Wonderful kids, but kids,” Klopp told a news conference on Wednesday.
“It is not about Shaq or whatever, it is about pretty much everybody. We have to keep them for sorting our situation and not the situation for different clubs.”
Liverpool, currently 13 points clear at the top of the table, are chasing a 14th consecutive league victory when they visit Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday.
Defender Dejan Lovren is in contention to return to the squad, having recovered from a muscle injury sustained during Liverpool’s win against Salzburg in the group stage of the Champions League last month.
“Dejan has trained now since the start of the week,” Klopp said. “So, (these are his) first steps out on the pitch, it is good.”
James Milner, Naby Keita and Shaqiri remain on the sidelines with minor knocks but Klopp is confident the trio will return to action soon.
