Jurgen Klopp confident Liverpool can persuade Emre Can to sign a new contract
German international Can is out of contract at the end of next season after negotiations broke down over Christmas, but Klopp thinks there will ne 'no problem' in persuading him to stay
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jurgen Klopp is confident that there will be “no problem” in persuading midfielder Emre Can to sign a new Liverpool contract.
The Germany midfielder is out of contract at the end of next season, but negotiations to extend it broke down over Christmas.
Can has endured an inconsistent season, although he has dismissed suggestions that the uncertainty over his future has affected his form.
He has also stated in the last week that the delay in agreeing a deal has had nothing to do with his £100,000-a-week wage demands, and is hopeful an agreement can be sorted out.
Can has hinted that he is happy to leave the bulk of the talks until the end of the season, and Klopp is confident that the matter will be resolved.
The Liverpool manager said: “It makes no sense to talk about it, but I heard there was a story out there. Yes we are in talks.
“Emre likes to be here, and we like him as a person and a player so there’s nothing else to say until the final year starts. There are no problems.”
Klopp is hoping to cause problems on Sunday for Manchester City, who were knocked out of the Champions League by French league leaders Monaco in midweek.
City manager Pep Guardiola has had a testing first season in England, with his hopes of a trophy effectively now resting with the FA Cup.
Liverpool will go above their third-placed opponents with a win, and Klopp believes that Guardiola is having to learn quickly about the harsh realities of the Premier League after being dominant at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
The German added: “The squad Pep Guardiola had at Barcelona was the perfect role model for a win-win situation: having all these ideas with players who can obviously fulfil all the plans he had was fantastic. It was an outstanding combination.
“People who know more about Bayern Munich would say it was another good generation what they had there; good players at the best age and then this world-class manager. There was not a second team in Germany. At Borussia Dortmund, we tried to be it as hard as possible but for different reasons it was not possible.
“It is a big difference coming here, the most difficult league in the world.
“A lot of teams have a lot of money and a lot of teams have a lot of good players and that is the one thing which makes it really difficult to become champions in England.
“What is more here than in other countries is the result is everything. No-one cares how you get a result, no-one.”
Klopp, meanwhile, believes that teenage striker Ben Woodburn’s Wales call-up may have come too soon.
Woodburn, 17, became the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history last November, and has been called into Chris Coleman’s squad for next week’s World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.
Klopp said: “Ben is happy about it, so I’m happy about it. Should it be now? Probably not, but we cannot stop this.
“Ben is a wonderful kid and can deal with it 100 per cent. He knows what he has to learn.
“I heard a manager say he’s one of the best 23 players in Wales, so he has to be there, but now we have two managers who have responsibility.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments