Kieran Maguire: Jurgen Klopp ‘dismayed’ as Liverpool may be forced to give up Virgil van Dijk
Jurgen Klopp will be “dismayed” at the prospect of temporarily losing some of his best players to a Premier League all-star XI.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest news from behind the scenes at Premier League HQ.
New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly’s suggestion of a lucrative NFL-style north versus south all-star game was met with derision by fans and commentators last month.
Liverpool boss Klopp highlighted the already-cluttered fixture schedule when asked about his views on the American billionaire’s proposal.
But The Times reported last Thursday (29 September) that there are now plans for a Premier League XI to take on sides from Serie A, La Liga and the Bundesliga.
Maguire insists that Liverpool would be reluctant to let star players like Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk take part in these one-off games.
“Liverpool will not be one of the cheerleaders for the all-star game,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“The reason for that is that they aeare of just how much money they can make from pre-season tours and going around the world.
“That puts them in a strong position with regards to signing new commercial deals with overseas partners.
“Therefore, if they were to lose some of their players to what is effectively a rival competition, that could have a negative impact as far as sponsors ware concerned. Those sponsors are expecting to see Van Dijk and Salah and so on.
“I also suspect that Klopp will be extremely dismayed by such a prospect. He has spoken before about the demands placed on players.
“It seems that some owners see playrs only as labour to be squeezed as much as possible.”
In other news, Gabby Agbonlahor claims Darwin Nunez may cost Jurgen Klopp his job after behind-the-scenes Liverpool reveal.