Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino took a swipe at Jurgen Klopp on Thursday after winning the bidding war for Moises Caicedo.
Klopp, who once vowed to leave his job if Liverpool ever offered over £100million for a player, backtracked on his previous remarks last week after the Reds tabled a £111m offer to Brighton for the Ecuador midfielder.
Caicedo instead chose to join Chelsea for a British record £115m and subsequently made his debut under Pochettino in Sunday’s 3-1 defeat against West Ham.
Aiming a subtle dig at Klopp, Pochettino said ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Luton at Stamford Bridge: ‘The future can change things. Life can change. I saw Klopp say I’m not going to be in this business when we should pay £100m.
‘And then they offered £100million and he said “Oh, I made a mistake”. That is the same situation
In football, the dynamic is fast and changes and we need to move on. Today, nothing has changed. If something changes we will adapt to the situation?’
While taking a swipe at Klopp’s previous comments, Pochettino was also highlighting that he should be open-minded about the future when it comes to Chelsea outcast Romelu Lukaku, whose career is in freefall at Stamford Bridge.
The Belgian is training with the Blues’ U21 squad having told the club he wants to leave following his loan spell at Inter Milan last season.
Despite not ruling out a potential return for Lukaku, the Argentine urged that it is not his responsibility to find a solution.
Following Caicedo’s decision to join Chelsea, Liverpool are still yet to splash out over £100m on a player, but their offer for the Ecuadorian suggests it is only a matter of time before they do.
Liverpool were heavily linked with former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham ahead of the summer, and the England star fetched a £113m transfer fee as part of his move to Real Madrid.
Speaking on Paul Pogba’s big-money move to Manchester United in 2016, Klopp said: ‘The day that this is football, I’m not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together.’
Last week, the German backtracked on his past comments ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Bournemouth, saying: ‘Everything changes. Do I like it? No. But did I realise I was wrong? Definitely.
‘It is not great but it is the way it goes. It will not change around again. Saudi Arabia will not help. We as a club have to try and make sure with our resources we get the best possible team together.
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