Liverpool manager Arne Slot has provided a reason for the club’s failed pursuit of Spain international Martin Zubimendi ahead of the commencement of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
Slot, who joined the Reds this summer following the departure of Jurgen Klopp, revealed that the Euro 2024-winning midfielder decided not to join Liverpool despite the 25-year-old being heavily linked with a move to Anfield.
However, despite Liverpool being the only team in the Premier League yet to sign a player ahead of the start of the new season, the Dutch manager reiterated that his squad is really strong, adding that “it is not so easy to find players that can help strengthen the squad.”
“I said many times already that I think our squad is really strong and it is not so easy to find players that can help us or can even strengthen the squad,” the 45-year-old tactician said.
“[Martin] Zubimendi was one of them, to be fair, but he decided not to come and then we go forward with the ones we have and those ones have done really well in pre-season.
“So, we’re in a good place and like I said many times before, in the background [Sporting director] Richard [Hughes] is trying to strengthen the squad as he can but unfortunately Zubimendi decided not to come and he [Hughes] did every effort, he tried everything to bring him in, but if a player doesn’t want to come it’s obvious that he is not coming.”
On whether the team will become weaker if they do not strengthen during this window, Slot said: “That argument I don’t understand. If you don’t strengthen the team, you become weaker? That’s a bit weird because normally you would either stay the same.
“I truly believe that the training ground [is where] you can help players and the team to improve. That is also what happened here in recent years, that the training ground really helped the team to improve.
“Maybe what you mean is if the clubs around do strengthen the team, then maybe they become better. But it’s not always true that if you bring in new players the team becomes stronger, because I also believe in general that every player in the team needs to have perspective on playing time. If you keep bringing players in, sometimes the energy in the group goes down as well,” Slot concluded.
The 19-time English champions head to Portman Road for the first time in 22 years to take on newly promoted Ipswich Town in their season opener in Saturday’s early kick-off.
