Klopp short of options as January transfer window looms for Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp detests talking about transfers and admits he is not “the biggest friend of the January window" but the Liverpool boss is now warming to the idea of a recruitment drive next month.

He may have no choice. On Boxing Day, Liverpool lost Divock Origi to a hamstring injury, while in the laboured, 1-0 victory over Sunderland on Wednesday evening, Christian Benteke was the only striker in the matchday squad.

Klopp’s options to enliven the encounter from the bench was limited: Jordon Ibe was the only name that could be counted as a potential game-changer and the 20-year-old has only just recovered from an illness. Joe Allen, who travelled with the side to the Stadium of Light, was sent home as he picked up a virus.

James Milner needs a few more days to recover from a calf complaint, while Martin Skrtel will be sidelined for another month.

And possibly most alarmingly, captain Jordan Henderson had to be replaced in the second half against his former side after he looked to be struggling with a foot injury.

Liverpool’s squad is thin while the fixtures come thick and fast. Klopp understandably does not want to stock pile players, but the side are not in need of quantity, they are desperate for quality - especially in the final third.

Origi and Danny Ings suffered setbacks just as they started to demonstrate how influential they could be for Liverpool. Daniel Sturridge’s injury riddle is so complex that despite being fit, he cannot be risked as the club puts him through an intense mini pre-season to strengthen his resistance to knocks.

That leaves Benteke as the only available frontman, and while the Belgian has netted twice in two games, there is much work to be done on his overall contributions.

Klopp does not have the luxury of resting players at the moment, and given Liverpool’s packed schedule and intensive style, that could spell further injury problems.

Perhaps the 48-year-old has to act on his own words now. “If we have to react, we will react,” he has alredy said.

"I'm not long enough here... maybe a player will leave, I don't know. If he comes to me and says, 'it's not a situation I want', then maybe we have to react.

"Or another injury. We have a lot of games in the transfer window so that's what I always try to say.

"We are not planning only to get more players and more players and more players. That's not how I think we should work. But if we have to react, we will react."

Liverpool don’t need to get more and more players. But they need to strengthen with the right ones - the type that can make the difference when the side is struggling to close out a win against a Sunderland side, who had suffered defeat in their four previous matches.