Liverpool director Billy Hogan promises summer funds

Liverpool sporting director Billy Horgan has vowed that Jurgen Klopp will again be allowed to spend big to strengthen his squad in the summer.

The Reds paid out around £247m in 2018 to recruit Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Naby Keita, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri, offset by the £142m sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona.

Off the field, £200m has also been invested in revamping Anfield's Main Stand and work continues to take place at the club's Kirkby training base.

Having posted a profit before tax of £125m for the year ending May 31, 2018, however, Liverpool will continue to invest heavily in the squad to become a force in the Premier League and Europe.

"That represents a significant investment into the non-playing side and that is a great indication of where we are as a club, both on and off the pitch," Horgan said in the February edition of fcbusiness.

"From our perspective, what you are seeing is a continuation of that performance on the pitch and the reinvestment in the squad, which is the most important thing from our point of view; nothing is a distraction from putting a successful team on the pitch.

"Putting Jurgen and the guys on the football side in a position to compete at the highest levels, that is always our focus and we see our contribution to that in the form of being able to run the business in a better way and being able to drive revenues to invest back into the team."

Liverpool have yet to win a trophy in Klopp's four years on Merseyside, though they can move top of the Premier League with a point against Manchester United on Sunday and are still in Champions League contention.