Cody Gakpo's decision to join Liverpool without a guarantee of Champions League qualification delighted Jurgen Klopp, who has "no doubts at all" about the forward ahead of his Reds debut.
Liverpool beat several clubs – including rivals Manchester United – to Gakpo's signature by agreeing a deal worth an initial £37million (€42m) with PSV shortly before the transfer window opened.
Gakpo was unable to make his debut in Monday's 3-1 Premier League defeat at Brentford after a delay in ratifying the move, but he is available for Saturday's FA Cup tie against Wolves.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of that fixture, Klopp said Gakpo's decision to join a team seven points adrift of a top-four place said a lot about his personality.
"We had information about him as a person from Virgil [van Dijk] so not only were there few doubts, there were no doubts at all," Klopp said. "We're very happy with the signing.
"There were easier moments to join Liverpool. Last year, we were not qualified already for the Champions League, but it looked likely. This year we can't guarantee that, but Cody never asked.
"What I like about this is he's not a guy that wants to jump on a moving train, he's a guy that wants to push the train. So good for him, as well. It always helps in life if you are like that."
Gakpo scored three goals as the Netherlands reached the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar after providing 12 goals and nine assists for PSV through their first 14 games of the Eredivisie season.
While Klopp is excited to see the 23-year-old in action, he is unwilling to compare him to Luis Diaz, who made a terrific impact for Liverpool after his own mid-season arrival from Porto 12 months ago.
"With our situation, with injuries to the strikers, it's nice to have a player who is natural in lots of things and knows where the goal is," Klopp said of Gakpo.
"He looks really good, he looks really promising. He looks fit. Is he 100 per cent fit? I don't know, he had a few times with us where he couldn't train with the team. Now he's with the team. The sessions have been intense for him because it's different.
"I'm very positive about him. I don't know if it's helpful to compare him with Lucho's impact – it was pretty special. We had injuries [last season] and it was extremely helpful.
"Cody gets the same amount of time as any other player. He has to settle in offensively, he comes from a different league. I don't have to compare him to Lucho, but we expect a positive impact, definitely."
Klopp also dismissed suggestions he had been irked by Liverpool's failure to have Gakpo available sooner, adding: "If our Premier League game [at Brentford] had been last night, maybe he could have played, but for us in this moment, it's absolutely perfect.
"Normally in January business happens later, but in this case we were pretty early, so I'm completely fine with the situation."
Rumour Has It: Bayern plotting shock swoop for Chelsea flop Lukaku
Chelsea seem to have resigned themselves to making a major loss on Romelu Lukaku, who has only netted five times on loan at Inter this term.
According to a Football Insider report, the Blues are ready to move him on in at the end of the season, with Inter unlikely to try to extend his stay in Milan.
Chelsea spent £97.5milion to bring Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge in August 2021, but they are unlikely to get anywhere near that now.
TOP STORY – GERMAN CHAMPIONS LINE UP SHOCK LUKAKU MOVE
Bayern Munich are lining up a shock move for Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku to bolster their attacking options, claims Fichajes.
The report claims Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann is an admirer of the Belgium striker, who he believes is one of the world's best forwards if injury free.
Bayern will not commence negotiations with Chelsea until the end of the season. The German champions had been linked with Harry Kane as they look for someone to replace Robert Lewandowski, who left for Barcelona last year.
Calciomercato reports that Chelsea may try to land a deal with Roma with a swap deal involving Tammy Abraham.
ROUND-UP
– 90min claims Manchester City have reignited their interest in signing 19-year-old Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz following a long-term knee injury which forced him to miss the 2022 World Cup. Fabrizio Romano claims Real Madrid will compete for the German's services too.
– Tottenham are interested in Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson, reports ESPN. Henderson is currently on loan at Nottingham Forest from United, who could use Spurs' interest as leverage in a deal for Harry Kane, per the report
– Leeds United forward Wilfried Gnonto is drawing interest from Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, while 90min claims Juventus and Napoli are among a list of Italian clubs tracking him too.
– Fabrizio Romano claims Barcelona on the cusp of agreeing to a deal with Athletic Bilbao centre-back Inigo Martinez to join the Blaugrana on a free transfer in the off-season.
– Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to let Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches exit amid interest from Milan along with Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Tottenham and Wolves, reports 90min.
– Football London reports Arsenal are ready to ramp up their interest in Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi with a bid to come in the coming months, although he has a €60m release clause in his contract.
Saudi league can be one of the world's best, claims Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is confident the Saudi Pro League can become one of the world's best competitions in the years to come.
The Portugal captain joined Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr in the aftermath of the 2022 World Cup, with his second spell with Manchester United brought an abrupt end prior to the tournament in Qatar.
A free agent after the Selecao's quarter-final exit at the hands of Morocco, Ronaldo promptly moved to the Middle East and has quickly settled, scoring nine goals in eight Pro League appearances.
While widely considered a weaker league than those in Europe, Ronaldo believes those matches have prepared him for Portugal duty and expects the reputation of the Saudi top flight to improve in time.
"I feel really good," he said ahead of Portugal's Euro 2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein. "That's why I'm here. If I didn't think so, I wouldn't be.
"I'm in a very competitive league. They should look at the Saudi championship differently.
"Obviously, it's not like the Premier League, I'd be lying if I said it was, but it's competitive. I'm surprised by the strength. It has good teams, it is balanced, the Arab players are good, the foreigners give quality.
"Possibly it will be, in five to six years' time, if they continue this plan, the fourth or fifth most competitive league in the world."
Ronaldo's return to United had not ended well as he fell out with Erik ten Hag and fired shots at the club in a no-holds-barred interview while still contracted at Old Trafford.
"Sometimes you have to go through a few things to see who's on my side," he said on Wednesday. "At a difficult stage, you see who is on your side.
"I have no problem saying I've had a bad time in my career, but there's no time for regrets.
"Life goes on and, doing well or not, it was part of my growth. When we're at the top of the mountain, we often can't see what's down.
"Now I am more prepared and this learning was important, because I had never been through this as in the last few months. Now I'm a better man."
Kulusevski unperturbed by Conte comments and still happy to play under Tottenham coach
Dejan Kulusevski did not take offence to Antonio Conte's criticism of his Tottenham side and is still happy to play under the Spurs coach.
Conte labelled his players "selfish" after Tottenham drew 3-3 with Southampton, despite leading 3-1 with 15 minutes to go.
It came just two weeks after Tottenham, who are fourth in the Premier League, exited both the FA Cup and Champions League in the space of a week.
Conte is widely expected to be sacked, but Kulusevski, when asked if he was offended by the coach's comments, said: "No, because I know what I bring to the team every day.
"I know that I prepare myself to do as good as I can, and that's why I can always look myself in the mirror.
“Sometimes I know I don't play good enough, and I can take responsibility for that, but what he said is for him, that's his word.
“I respect him, and he helped me a lot during my career. So, he's still a very important man in our club and in my work.”
Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg suggested Conte needed to be "a little more precise" with his words, but Kulusevski believes the players can have few complaints after a poor run of form.
"He was very disappointed, as were us players, and we have to accept that," said the winger.
"We lost all the cups, we went out in Champions League also. So, I know that sometimes we have to be sad and angry, and that's how he took it.
"Somebody else will take another way; we just have to respect his words.”
As unlikely as it now seems, Kulusevski was then asked if he would still be happy to play under Conte and replied: "Yeah, absolutely.”
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