Jürgen Klopp has made a number of fantastic signings during his reign as Liverpool boss. There are a number of fan favourites that have arrived after the German gaffer, one such favourite is Joel Matip. The lanky Cameroonian centre back has come in for some high praise from Liverpool’s manager.
The Liverpool FC official site published the Reds manager’s pre-match press conference ahead of the league leader’s visit to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United this weekend. During his media gathering, the German described signing Joel Matip as “one of best pieces of business we did”. The Cameroonian arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2016 after the Reds agreed a deal in January of that year to sign him when his contract with Schalke expired.
It wasn’t until the 2018/19 season that Matip really stepped up to the plate at Liverpool. He had been in and out of the side during his Liverpool career, some careless mishaps as part of a shaky defence had left Reds fans encouraged by his potential but unconvinced by his ability. An unfortunate leg break to Joe Gomez afforded Matip the opportunity to step into the first team, he did so and never looked back.
For Jürgen Klopp to call him one of his best ever pieces of business is high praise indeed. Let’s put that in context: Klopp signed Robert Lewandowski, one of the world’s greatest strikers, for a measly £3.5m. Jürgen signed Matts Hummels for just £3m. The gaffer has no shortage of bargain buys to recall, for him to believe Joel Matip is one of his best deals is testament to the rich vein of form the defender has found himself in.
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