Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that “it makes sense” for Christian Benteke to leave the club and he believes the Belgian striker has accepted this.
Benteke has struggled to make an impression since Klopp took over at Anfield and could now be set to move elsewhere in order to kick-start his career.
Klopp said: “Everyone knows about it. Christian has already said maybe it makes sense to go to another club. Christian is still a really great striker.
“We have a few more strikers and I think it makes more sense to give them match time. But if there are clubs that want a real striker than they have to make real offers otherwise we will find solutions. A few clubs try to gamble but we are not part of this, we are serious.”
Klopp gave very little away in his press conference ahead of Saturday’s International Champions Cup game against Barcelona at Wembley when asked about any dealings before the end of the transfer window.
He said: “The final word on this is on August 31. Until this time you always have to be ready to do something. But I’m fine, the squad is good.
“Maybe one or two things can happen. We will see what happens. If somebody wants a player then they have to pay because we only have good players.”
Liverpool rounded off their pre-season tour of the USA with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of AS Roma following a loss against Antonio Conte’s Chelsea and a win against AC Milan.
The trip was marred by injuries sustained to new recruits Joel Matip and Loris Karius, as well as January signing Marko Grujic.
Goalkeeper Karius is expected to be out for up to 10 weeks and Klopp offered updates on the fitness of Matip and Grujic.
He said: “Marko we had to wait until the doc gave the green light. The injury was not too serious, but we use our brain and he uses it for football too! Joel has trained for three days.”
And, when asked how he deemed Liverpool’s pre-season so far, the German replied: “I’m not sure if I’m happy. Pre-season is always difficult but my expectations are high and I want to do it perfect.”
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