Klopp: Why I'm delighted with Marko Grujic deal
Moments after completing his first signing as Reds boss, Jürgen Klopp sat down with Liverpoolfc.com to explain why he was so eager to bring Serbia midfielder Marko Grujic to Anfield. Here’s what he had to say…
Jürgen, you’ve made your first signing as Liverpool manager. How pleased are you to have secured Marko Grujic?
Very pleased because Marko is a big talent and we’ve seen him a lot of times. When I came here, our scouts showed me some footage of a very skilled player from Red Star Belgrade. We watched it, we spoke to him, we met each other – he’s a good boy, a young boy but plays an important role at the moment at Red Star, who are the best team in Serbia. It’s a country where a lot of good football players have come from in the last 20-30 years. Always, there are big players coming from there because they have a good mentality, good technical skills, and are open for tactical advice and things like this. To describe him, I would say he’s a tall boy, but quick and good at technical things. He can play passes and can dribble. But he is young, so he has to develop. He will do this, so everything is okay.
You said you’ve spoken to him, how is he feeling about this move to Liverpool?
He’s impressed because Liverpool FC is a big club and for a young player like this, if you are smart enough so you don’t think, ‘I can conquer the world in one day’ and know you have to learn – that’s what he has asked me for and what our plans are with him. I spoke with him and it’s up to him, but when he signed a contract with us then I feel a big responsibility for his improvement and his development. He was impressed and is now looking forward to it. He’s watched all of our last few games and will watch the next games. At this moment, they have a winter break so he has a little bit of time, but at the end of the season he will come here well prepared and start pre-season with us and then we’ll see.
You say he’ll come here well prepared, he is obviously going to stay at Red Star on loan until the end of the season. Is that important for his development and preparing him for Liverpool?
Yes, but it is a difficult situation at Red Star, they are ahead – far ahead – at the top of the table, 25 points I think, but they have to play play-offs so they are far away from a decision [conclusion]. They have to start nearly new and so for him, it’s important to have a competition like this. Of course, he is 19 years old and with the family and things like this, so there is no rush in this. He made the decision, we made the decision – good decision!
You mentioned his skills and attributes earlier, are you confident they’re right for English football and he’ll adapt quickly?
We will see, but of course, that’s what we think and you always need to have a little bit of fantasy because the leagues are different but he’s tall enough and young enough to get stronger and all these things. The skills he has now have made him the player we wanted and now we can start working together. We think he will be good for the Premier League.