Liverpool preferring 'quality over quantity' in summer transfer market

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp feels under no pressure to spend big this summer despite being handed £200m to improve his squad. Just two new players have arrived at Anfield this summer in the form of Dominic Solanke and Mohamed Salah but no further deals have been completed.

Attempts to sign Virgil van Dijk have failed after Southampton reported the Reds to the Premier League over an illegal approach while Red Bull Leipzig are seemingly unwilling to part with Naby Keita at any price. Kylian Mbappe and Marco Asensio have also been linked with moves to Merseyside but as yet no further deals are in the offing.

But senior sources at Liverpool claim Klopp is unperturbed by the lack of progress despite being given free reign to improve his squad. The Reds only securing a top four spot and a place in the Champions League on the final day of last season but the German does not want to stage a major overhaul.

"Jurgen is happy with how our transfer business is being conducted," said a high-level Liverpool source told The Mirror. "This summer was always going to be about quality rather than quality and the manager understands that landing the kind of players he wants was always going to be about being patient.

"There is no sense of worry or panic. This window is about bringing in players who are better than the ones who are already here."

While Liverpool are meandering through the summer, many of their rivals have wasted little time improving their resources. Manchester City have added Bernardo Silva and goalkeeper Emerson, while Manchester United have acquired Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku.

Arsenal have signed Saed Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette while Everton are braced to make Wayne Rooney their ninth signing of a buy off-season. Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are yet to make any high profile additions but are likely to be active in the market in the coming weeks.