Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp considered rejecting Alisson to support Karius after Champions League mistakes
The boss explained the negativity surrounding his previous no.1 almost made him stick with the German, but ultimately the deal proved impossible to turn down
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has explained criticism of Loris Karius at the end of last season almost saw him reject the chance to sign Alisson.
Karius spent last season as the no.1, having dislodged Simon Mignolet, but ended the campaign with two costly errors in the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.
However, Klopp said the Real Madrid game was not the reason Alisson was signed, who joined from Roma in a £67million deal.
"I didn't tell Loris what he wanted to hear, but how it is," he explained in an interview with German magazine Kicker.
"The Champions League final had nothing to do with us getting Alisson. Even if he had won it and Alisson would have been on the market we would have still signed him.
"And how the people reacted negatively to Karius after the final, by trying to isolate him, that almost made me not sign Alisson and rather stick it out with Karius. But we had to be professional, our job is to have the best players on every position."
It was also put to Klopp whether the mistakes had a serious effect on him, which was rubbished by the manager.
"There are worse things in the world, you should never forget that. We are talking about a luxury problem here. Who the no.1 is might be decisive for some. But it isn't everything."
He also brushed aside the fuss which has been made over some of his mistakes during pre-season against Borussia Dortmund and Tranmere, which Klopp insisted was the place to make them, considering everyone is still working on getting their fitness back to what is was in order to compete for 90 minutes every week.
"Out-field players make tons of mistakes. Loris has to continue to work hard.
"Loris is now 25, at an age, in which keepers keep improving. All the best keepers make mistake, but sometimes timing is important in life. If Loris makes a mistake now, it isn't cool. In eight years nobody will care. We are totally happy with him.
"We simply identified another keeper, who is better, and signed him."
Karius, meanwhile, has most recently been linked with a move to Besiktas on loan.
And after one too many keyboard warriors started trolling him during Liverpool's pre-season training, he posted this on Instagram: "To those who take joy in seeing other people fail or suffer, I feel for you. Whatever it is that's happening in your life to hold this much anger and hate, I pray that it passes and good things come to you."
His team-mates, including Mohamed Salah, have also leapt to his defence.
Dejan Lovren was not quite so polite when he replied to a Liverpool fan account on Instagram, which posted this after the Dortmund friendly: “It’s becoming a regular thing for @lorisk21. I seriously believe that we should sell him because even as a backup he’s just full of mistakes. I don’t care what anyone says but he is not worthy of wearing the LFC shirt. And this is for all the mistakes he makes in general for the ones thinking that I’m slaughtering him just for this.”
“You are full of s***,” replied Lovren. “Shame on you how you treat our player! And also the name Liverpool fan page.”
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