LONDON, Dec 4 — Liverpool are open to bringing in players in the January transfer window, manager Jurgen Klopp said yesterday after rival Pep Guardiola ruled out Manchester City making any signings.

Asked by reporters if he was surprised at Guardiola’s comments, with the Premier League champions 11 points behind leaders Liverpool after 14 games, the German said it was news to him.

"I’m only hearing this now for the first time. Am I surprised? No. But it’s not important,” he said ahead of today’s Merseyside derby with Everton.

"We are pretty much always ready — if we can do something which helps us, we will try to do it. If not, we will not.”

In the January 2018 window Klopp splashed out on signing Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk, now the core of his side’s defence, from Southampton.

Guardiola told reporters he did not want any new players in January but the club, third in the Premier League, would have to refresh the squad at the end of the season.

Klopp said the summer transfer window was ‘really difficult’, since it closed for English clubs before the rest of Europe.

"We’ll see how that goes in the future but the summer window only hurts English clubs and doesn’t help them. It’s not cool,” he said. — Reuters