Jurgen Klopp quickly dismissed any suggestion that Liverpool could join the race to sign Lionel Messi, adding that he is unsure if the Barcelona superstar will turn up in the Premier League this season.
Klopp's Premier League champions are back in action in Saturday's Community Shield against FA Cup winners Arsenal, but the majority of the football world is still talking about Messi.
After telling Barca he wants to leave, Messi is now fancied to stage a renunion with Pep Guardiola at Man City, who head the betting for his signature.
Liverpool are nowhere to be seen in regards to the Messi betting, especially with their lack of transfer acitivity of late, and Klopp said as much when asked about whether the Argentinian could spring a surprise and end up at Anfield.
“Interest? Who doesn’t want to have Messi in their team? But no chance," said Klopp. "The numbers are not for us, but a good player, to be honest."
Klopp downplayed the impact Messi could possibly have on Man City's title prospects, and even cast doubt on whether he would actually leave Barca this summer.
“It would obviously help Man City and make it more difficult to beat them," Klopp added. “For the Premier League it would be great, but I am not sure the Premier League needs that boost.
"He's never played in another league. Football is different here. I'd like to see it but I'm not sure I will."
Liverpool's own transfer dealings have come under scrutiny after missing out on Timo Werner and struggling to get a deal done for Thiago Alcantara, but Klopp insisted they were always looking at making additions.
"Numbers in the squad make sense, we have a big squad at the moment with a lot of young boys, and the size of the squad is OK," he said.
"I'm happy with what we have but we look constantly for improvement - internally too.
"It will be interesting to see what other teams do but we will deal with our situation as we always have. The philosophy of this club is clear and we will see how much we want to spend."
Community Shield no friendly
The Community Shield hardly comes at an ideal time for Liverpool or Arsenal, but Klopp insisted they would not be preparing for it as a friendly.
Community Shield odds (via Sky Bet)
- Arsenal - 19/5
- Draw - 3/1
- Liverpool - 4/6
“Would I want to play a proper game after two weeks’ preparation? No. But we’ve known about it for a while.
“We don’t have friendlies, we have testing games. It’s a competition and it’s rare you have perfect time to prepare for a game.
“I’d be surprised if we played our best game of the season – but it’s not a friendly, it’s a proper match against Arsenal.”
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