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Thiago's arrival doesn't mean someone else leaves Liverpool, says Klopp

VIDEO SHOWS: NEWS CONFERENCES WITH LIVERPOOL MANAGER JUERGEN KLOPP AND CHELSEA MANAGER FRANK LAMPARD AHEAD OF THEIR PREMIER LEAGUE CLASH / FILE FOOTAGE OF THIAGO ALCANTARA / FILE STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF KLOPP AND LAMPARD ARGUING ON SIDELINES OF MATCH AT LIVERPOOL IN JULY

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS:

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 18, 2020) (LFC TV - ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIVERPOOL MANAGER, JUERGEN KLOPP, ON THIAGO ALCANTARA, SAYING:

"It's not official until it's announced and I'm not announcing, so I don't know really what I can say now. It looks quite promising [LAUGHS]. My hands are tied, pretty much. Probably for all Liverpool supporters it's quite useful to have a look at a few LFC channels over the day. I would say that could help. And then we will see when whatever happens."

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MUNICH, GERMANY (FILE - APRIL 22, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

2. VARIOUS OF BAYERN MUNICH MIDFIELDER, THIAGO ALCANTARA, DRIBBLING BALL AND SHOOTING AGAINST A TRAMPOLINE NET (TWO SHOTS)

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 18, 2020) (LFC TV - ACCESS ALL)

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIVERPOOL MANAGER, JUERGEN KLOPP, ON THIAGO ALCANTARA, SAYING:

"I can say if it happens, there's no impact on anybody's future in a negative way. If you want that. So like, somebody has to leave because somebody comes in or whatever; nope. I can say that. If something happens, there is no impact."

MUNICH, GERMANY (FILE - AUGUST 17, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

4. ALCANTARA GREETING FANS DURING TRAINING SESSION

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 18, 2020) (LFC TV - ACCESS ALL)

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIVERPOOL MANAGER, JUERGEN KLOPP, ON REPORTED RIVALRY WITH FRANK LAMPARD, SAYING:

"There's no rivalry. You should stop reading newspapers because honestly, when I heard about these kinds of things, what all the different journalists made of it, I really, I don't get that. When you ask me a question, I answer it and everybody takes it the way they wants to take it. There might be a language issue, or whatever, you all make a story that I said something about the 'transfer behaviour of Chelsea.' What I said, in the situation we are in, we cannot deal with the situation like other clubs. One of them was Chelsea, probably I mentioned, I don't know. And then you make a story of it. And then you create a rivalry between Frank Lampard and me. Why? We meet two, three times a year. I respect a lot what he's doing. He's probably a really nice guy. But I don't know, because I don't know him privately. Like he doesn't know me in private. And then on the sideline, we are quite animated and emotional and sometimes we say a few words a few minutes later you wish you wouldn't have said. That's how life is. That's how football is. It's nothing more than that."

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - JULY 22, 2020) (REUTERS PICTURES - ACCESS ALL) (MUTE)

6. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF JUERGEN KLOPP AND CHELSEA MANAGER, FRANK LAMPARD, ARGUING ON SIDELINES OF PITCH DURING PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH

7. ANOTHER STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF KLOPP AND LAMPARD ARGUING

8. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF KLOPP AND LAMPARD SHAKING HANDS AFTER MATCH

COBHAM, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 18, 2020) (CHELSEA TV - ACCESS ALL)

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER, FRANK LAMPARD, ON REPORTED RIVALRY WITH JUERGEN KLOPP, SAYING:

"Yeah, I suppose they are [people are making too much of argument on the sidelines last season]. That's probably the nature of the world we live in. There's a lot of airtime for you on talk sport to have to fill with these sorts of rivalries. So, I understand that sometimes they can be scrutinized in every possible way. I just reiterate what Juergen Klopp said from his part, I've got a huge amount of respect for him as a manger. I always have done. What he's done in Liverpool in the course of time that he's been there has been incredible. And that's him, that's on him as the focal point of the club and the individual talent they have on that squad that they've brought in. So, there's nothing in it for me. The competitive nature of the 90 minutes can always slightly boil over in different directions. The respect I have for Juergen Klopp would never change."

10. WHITE FLASH

11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER, FRANK LAMPARD, ON IF LIVERPOOL CLASH WILL BE A CHANCE TO MAKE A STATEMENT, SAYING:

"I don't feel like it's a game making a statement. I think it's the second game into the season. We have one win which was a hard-fought win at Brighton and a game where we were probably in pre-season zone in terms of our fitness because of the situation of how we haven't had players or quarantines or international breaks. So, now we take on what were the best team in the country last season and it's a nice challenge for us to go head to head against them. I think we did pretty well going head to head against them last year. Maybe not always getting the right result we felt we deserved. So, it's a challenge for us to try and get three points, as simple as that, against a very good opposition."

12. WHITE FLASH

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER, FRANK LAMPARD, ON REBUILDING SQUAD, SAYING:

"So, trying to find the right balance of the squad is something that I think last year, we were searching for a lot because we couldn't make, and I couldn't make changes that would have maybe changed how we looked slightly and maybe would have brought us what I maybe felt would be better balance. I think this season, we hopefully will move toward having a really good balance between the squad. But we must give that some time. Because when we've brought in players now, we haven't had a pre-season, there's no doubt about that. It will take some time to get the team working in the direction I want it to."

STORY: Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has stressed that Thiago Alcantara's highly-anticipated arrival at Anfield does not mean the club will be forced to sell a player in the current transfer window.

British media reported the Premier League champions have agreed a transfer fee worth 20 million pounds ($25.91 million dollars) plus five million pounds in add-ons with Bayern for Thiago, who is expected to sign a four-year deal with Liverpool.

Thiago bid farewell to Bayern in an open letter on Friday, with Klopp hinting that an announcement confirming the signing is imminent.

Thiago would be Liverpool's second recruit in the close season, a stark contrast to Sunday's (September 20) opponents Chelsea, who have spent more than 200 million pounds on half a dozen new signings as Frank Lampard rebuilds his squad.

Although Klopp recently said Liverpool were different from "clubs owned by countries and oligarchs", he maintains he has no problems with how Lampard and Chelsea do their business.

Lampard also swatted down reports of a growing rivalry between the two managers following a spat on the sidelines during their Premier League clash in July last season.

The Chelsea manager also said it will take some time to find a "balance" in the squad with the new players he's brought in, something he said they struggled to do last season.

"It will take some time to get the team working in the direction I want it to," Lampard said.

(Production: Kurt Michael Hall)