RB Salzburg coach Jesse Marsch explains why Liverpool have always fancied raiding his club of some of their best players.
Liverpool and Red Bull Salzburg easily have one of the best club relationships in all of Europe.
Over the past few years, the Reds have formed a habit of taking some of the Austrian giants’ best players.
At the moment, Liverpool have Sadio Mane, Naby Keita, and Takumi Minamino, who is the latest addition, to come from the Austrian side.
The 25-year-old Japanese joined the Reds in January but has failed to fully convince so far.
However, Salzburg head coach Jesse Marsch explains why Liverpool find their side an attractive hunting spot for players.
The 46-year-old believes it’s because both clubs have a similar attacking style of play.
“Klopp doesn’t call me directly! But I was in the office when they first called about Taki and it was before we played them in the second [Champions League] game and it is clever from them,” Marsch said to Goal.
“I have even often said to our scouting department maybe the best way of thinking about how to scout players is to think about what leagues and clubs around the world play a similar brand of football to what we do.”
“Maybe that’s a good starting point to think about how we can find good young players to integrate into what we do. Essentially, that’s the strategy that Jurgen Klopp has adopted and he has had success with that.”
“I’ve been asked before about which players from Leipzig and Salzburg could join Liverpool right away, off the top of my head, I could pick five players from each side that would fit into Liverpool perfectly. Then, it would just be about adapting to the level.”
Marsch also spoke on Minamino and believes it’s only a matter of time before the player hits full stride.
“That’s similar to what Taki Minamino is going through right now, he is equipped with all the tools to play in that team and it is just about adapting to the level which things are done.”
“I think this team takes it as a big compliment that a club like Liverpool and a coach like Jurgen Klopp thinks so highly of us.”