Benteke Not Load of Klopp - Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers has defended the signing of Christian Benteke by claiming his successor at Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp, tried to buy the striker when he was in charge of Borussia Dortmund.

“I took him to Liverpool in the summer because we were really short on goals and the one thing he does give you is goals, but obviously it’s going to take him time to get up to the way the team wants to play and Jürgen wants to press,” Rodgers told Talksport.

“I think Jürgen will take his time with him,” he added. “In this country, now, everything is very ‘short-termism’, isn’t it? People look at it like, you’ve got to come in, get 20 goals in your first season or you might be deemed a failure.

“I don’t think Jürgen’s looking at it as that. He tried to sign him for Dortmund. He knows he’s a good player. He met the boy, he met the agent, he met them in Germany, so he knows he’s a good player.”

The Belgian striker cost Liverpool £32.5m from Aston Villa in July in what appeared to be a panic buy by Rodgers but has largely been kept on the bench since Klopp took over in October.

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Juergen Kop says Didi Hamann

Former Liverpool and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann is convinced compatriot Jurgen Klopp is the perfect choice to take over at Anfield.

The Reds are progressing in talks with the German and the former Borussia Dortmund boss could be in position by the end of the week as Brendan Rodgers' replacement.

"He is the ideal candidate for the job. He is the one I would pick," Hamann told talkSPORT.

"The expectations and the mood couldn't be any further down than it is at the moment at Anfield so it is a great time to come.

"I don't think with his appointment Liverpool will become title contenders overnight, but you need to have a lift from somewhere and I think he can do this.

"Liverpool is a working-class club, a working-class town, and you need somebody that the fans take to. It is very important at a club like Liverpool that the fans take to the manager.

"For a lot of fans, Klopp would be the first choice and it looks like he is coming. And I think he can create that spark, that emotion, and give people hope again, which I think has been lost in the last 12 months.

"He has got a lot of love and passion for the game and this is why I think he fits the bill perfectly and why I think he will be a success."

Klopp worked under chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke at Dortmund and he is another who has backed him to be a success at Anfield.

"He is a very good coach because he has a good mentality for it," Watzke told Sky Sports. "He has a good style of playing football and I don't know if he will go to Liverpool or to another club, but the club who gets him gets a very good manager.

"He can do every job, he can make every club (better) and Liverpool is very similar to Borussia Dortmund, it has the same structure and the same fans. It is a marvellous club.

"Every player he has in his hands, he makes them better, you can be sure.

"It is wonderful to work with him because he has a big understanding of the problems of the club."

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