Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp says he will be interested in adding FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi to his 2019/2020 English Premier League-winning squad if the conditions are right.
Klopp said there was no chance it would happen because of the astronomical amount of money involved.
Messi stunned world football earlier this week when he expressed his desire to leave FC Barcelona after nearly two decades with the Catalan club.
When asked if he would like to bring the Argentine forward to Anfield, Klopp said: “Interest? Yeah, who doesn’t want Messi in their team.
“But the numbers are absolutely not for us. We don’t even start thinking about it. No chance! But… good player.”
A study by French newspaper L’Equipe earlier this year said Messi earns 8.2 million euros per month from Barca.
This is way more than Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Paris St-Germain (PSG) striker Neymar, who earn 4.5 million and 3 million euros respectively.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who finished 18 points behind champions Liverpool last season, appear to be the favourites to sign the six-times world player of the year.
The Argentine has won every major title with FC Barcelona.
Some of Messi’s best moments on the Camp Nou pitch came under the guidance of former Barca coach Guardiola.
“It will make it even more difficult to beat them (Manchester City), which was already very difficult,” Klopp told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s Community Shield clash with English FA Cup winners Arsenal at Wembley.
“For the Premier League, it will be great having the best player in the world in the league. I’m not sure the Premier League needs a boost but it will be.
“It will be interesting too because Messi has never played in another league apart from Spain. I will like to see it, but I’m not sure if I will.”
Both sets of players (from Liverpool and Arsenal) will take a knee at Wembley in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign which has again been in the news.
This is after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin, U.S. on Sunday —- an incident that has provoked widespread protests in sports across the country.
“I’ve followed it in the U.S., racism, Black Lives Matter, all these things, dealing with it all will stay with us for a long time,” Klopp said.
“As long as people don’t really get or understand it, we have to mention equality.”
Klopp confirmed centre-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.
“He looks not good because he has a cut there, but apart from that it should be fine,” Klopp added.
Jordan Henderson is also set to play, but Trent Alexander-Arnold may miss out because of injury.
“Trent’s very close but we have to make a decision about him tomorrow (Saturday),” Klopp said.
With the transfer window open until October, Klopp said Liverpool would “look constantly for improvement”, but he is satisfied with the size of his squad.
“We will see how much we can and want to spend,” he said.
