Jurgen Klopp has decided against signing unvaccinated players in January, with the Liverpool boss branding those who have not received a jab a “constant threat” to the rest of his squad.
Klopp is a passionate supporter of the COVID-19 vaccine programme and is convinced that getting it should be mandatory, at least from a moral perspective. Indeed, the Reds chief has confirmed that “99 per cent” of his current squad are fully vaccinated – with the UK currently tackling a surge in the Omicron variant.
Reds trio Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones missed the win over Newcastle on Thursday night due to suspected positive COVID-19 tests. Meanwhile, six of this weekend’s Premier League clashes have been postponed due to outbreaks.
With the January transfer window fast approaching and Liverpool tipped to strengthen, Klopp has said he will ensure any new signings are fully vaccinated in order to enter the club’s bubble.
The German coach has, however, admitted that no deals are currently lined up. That comes as a slight surprise, given that Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita will be away at the African Cup of Nations for several weeks.
“We are obviously not close to signing a player so I did not think about it but then I thought about it and yes, it will be influential, definitely,” Klopp said when asked if the stance of transfer targets towards the vaccine might affect their suitability for Liverpool, as reported in the Daily Express.
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“In a situation like this, let’s take our situation. If a player is not vaccinated at all, he is a constant threat for all of us.
“He doesn’t want to be a threat, of course, it is not that he thinks, ‘Oh my God, I don’t care about the others,’ but he is and we have to find different scenarios.
“He has to change in a different dressing room, has to eat in a different dining room. The player has to sit in a different bus, he has to drive in a different car and from an organisational point of view, it gets really messy.
“If you really want to follow the protocols, it is incredibly difficult to do. If one gets Covid and he was in the last four days around him, he will be in isolation.
“What if we have to travel to a country to play international football and we come back, he has to self-isolate, all these kinds of things. Of course it is going to be influential.
“We have to do all these kinds of things. Like building extra buildings for unvaccinated players and it will not happen. Hopefully it will not be necessary in the future. That’s it.”
Klopp hails star’s killer instinct
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp has lauded Diogo Jota for developing a “proper killer instinct” up front for Liverpool in the past few months.
The Reds turned heads when bringing the forward in from Wolves for a flexible deal that will eventually reach £41million. Despite initial questions about how he would fare behind the club’s established front three, he has progressed impressively.
Nine goals in his first 17 games made him a firm contender to start alongside Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
Jota finished last season well too, after recovering from a nasty knee injury.
This season, though, he has continued in such form. Twenty goals in 10 games have seen him advance his claims to start, especially amid Roberto Firmino’s hamstring injury.
Speaking at a press conference, Reds boss Klopp lauded Jota for his further development.
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Jota in unstoppable form
“Diogo is an incredible player,” the manager said. “Players underrated or under the radar, I don’t know why you always ask me that. They are not under my radar.
“If people do that, how can I change that? Diogo is an exceptional player, Mo is an exceptional player. By the way Sadio Mane plays really good in the moment – he is just unlucky in the last moments.
“All of these boys have incredible quality. That’s why they come into these positions and they come in these situations.
“Diogo has developed in the last few months a proper killer instinct, that’s true. He is there in the moments, he’s in the right spaces. He brings himself into good positions.”
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