Jurgen Klopp teases Liverpool's 'interesting' transfer targets and confirms snubbed Reds

Jurgen Klopp has explained how Liverpool were snubbed by Aurelien Tchouameni earlier this summer and said the Reds had several 'really interesting' midfield targets ahead of Thursday's 11pm deadline, but admits that they are simply not available at the moment. Klopp publicly admitted last week that a new midfielder would be welcome at Anfield.

Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all injured and club fans have called on Liverpool to refresh their midfield options. Among their other midfielders, James Milner will turn 37 in January while captain Jordan Henderson is 32 and Fabinho will soon be 29. Elsewhere Curtis Jones (21) and Harvey Elliott (19) are still youngsters, while Fabio Carvalho is more of a No 10 and has also been used as a wide forward.

Liverpool have no midfielders between the ages of 22 and 26 despite their preference for signing players of those ages over the past five years. Tchouameni, who turns 23 in January, was one of the midfielder's top targets earlier this summer but the Frenchman joined Real Madrid from Monaco for a total extra fee of £85million instead .

Klopp acknowledged that the Merseyside club had been rejected by Tchouameni, but also hinted again at his long-term interest in the likes of Borussia Dortmund and England midfielder Jude Bellingham and Enzo Fernandez from Benfica . He said the Reds have several interesting targets they can't move for yet knowing Bellingham will be available next summer.

Klopp explained: "The situation is this - we have nine midfielders and in all aspects we have everything, creativity, speed, excitement because some are young, technical, combative, runners. Everything that you want, everything is there.< /p>

“So a tenth midfielder? Not sure. But even back then we were looking for a midfielder but the midfielder decided to go to another club. are not available at the moment, but really interesting for us. It always has to be short and long term and it hasn't happened yet."

Klopp admitted to the press earlier on Tuesday: "Are we looking for a midfielder? Ish. The closer we get to the last minute...the more likely it is that [we don't sign any]. I couldn't not [give you a name]. It's difficult because for sure there are some who are right but there are different problems, in clubs that don't want to sell, it's like this."

The German added that Liverpool need to keep an eye on their squad's age profile, but insists he doesn't think their options are too old. Klopp continued: "When it's over and if we've signed or not, then I'm really happy because then we can stop thinking about it.

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"We can just focus on the team we have - let's go from there, let's make something special out of this team now. It's a great team and they have everything even with injuries. We have a balance in midfield.

"I could name a very young line-up and they're already there. We could start with Stefan Bajcetic at No. 6, believe it or not he could play that and Harvey [Elliott] and Fabio [Carvalho] The average age is 18, I would do that, no problem at all.

"In a year [it will be] great. Then we have other players in the best ages in football between 25 and 26 and we have players around 30 who bring experience, determination and these are the characters of this team. The moment (when) you consider 29, 30 years old...