Liverpool transfer plans would still work with no Champions League football, insists Jurgen Klopp

Klopp's side are at risk of dropping out of the Champions League places but qualifications remains within their own hands

Liverpool's plans do not rest solely on Champions League qualification, according to Jurgen Klopp (Getty)

Jürgen Klopp has denied that Liverpool’s plans for the forthcoming summer transfer window will be scuppered if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

Klopp’s side have ended just three rounds of Premier League fixtures outside the top four this season, two of those coming way back in August.

However, going into the penultimate weekend of the season, they are still not assured of a place in European football’s elite club competition.

Liverpool’s limp finish has been attributed, in some quarters, to a lack of squad depth and Klopp is expected to add reinforcements over the coming months, but he insists that his side’s final league position will not overly affect his ability to buy.

“I would think that the better we finish, maybe the easier it would be. But it doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t work if we can’t go to the Champions League,” Klopp said during his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to West Ham United.

“That’s the situation. Again, like I said, it’s always like this. The world of football is not like this anymore that you can find a player nobody else is aware of. ‘We have him and nobody knows about him.’ That’s really, really rare.”

Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk and RB Leipzig’s Naby Keita have been linked with moves to Anfield in the summer yet both are also believed to be attracting interest from elsewhere, including clubs who have all but assured a place in next season's Champions League.

“There are always other teams around,” Klopp added. “We have to go in with different things. One of these is probably the tournaments we play in next year. Three of them are sure, one is not sure. That’s all.”