Liverpool journalist Matt Addison has shared some insight into how Reds manager Jurgen Klopp was able to convince new signing Kostas Tsimikas to make the move to Anfield this summer.
This comes after Addison recently made an appearance on the Liverpool Echo’s Blood Red Podcast to talk through a series of news topics concerning the Merseyside club at the moment.
After it was recently reported that Klopp phoned Tsimikas before he signed for the Reds to express his interest in bringing the full-back to Anfield this summer, Addison shared some insight into what the German said to Tsimikas in the call.
He said: “He apparently told the Greek player, ‘the decision is yours, we think you fit really well into the project, you’re the perfect player for us, but it’s up to you whether you want to come here or not,’ and I guess this is pretty normal. I think Jurgen Klopp will probably do this for every single transfer, and it sort of makes sense, really, from Liverpool’s perspective to use the allure and the pull that Klopp has to get those deals over the line.
“If you can use a phone call from Jurgen Klopp to get that over the line, which, I’m pretty sure most players in the world, if Jurgen Klopp’s ringing up and saying, ‘we’d quite like you to come to Liverpool,’ not too many of those are going to turn that down. I’m sure it’s something that Liverpool use fairly frequently when their transfers take place.”
Liverpool signed the left-back from Greek side Olympiacos for a fee of £11.7 million on a five-year deal. In the 2019/20 season, the 24-year-old made a total of 46 appearances from the club across all competitions in which he managed to provide seven assists.
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The fact that Klopp personally called Tsimikas on the phone and explained his wishes to have the full-back in his squad just goes to show how highly Klopp rates the defender.
Now that Tsimikas has made the move to Merseyside, he will be hoping to have a successful first season with the Premier League champions.