Jurgen Klopp has accused Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho of playing 'mind games' with his comments on Liverpool's recent transfer spending.
Mourinho suggested this week that the Reds must now win the Premier League to justify spending around £250m on new recruits since the turn of the year.
The Portuguese also admitted that he finds it "funny" to see his opposite number spend £75m on a defender and £67m on a goalkeeper, having criticised United's vast outlay to bring in Paul Pogba two years ago.
Klopp is unfazed by the comments, however, and says that he is happy to have made Mourinho smile.
Asked if mind games were at play, the Liverpool boss told Sky Sports News: "Yeah, for sure, a little bit but that's okay. But I heard as well that Jose found me funny and one of my biggest goals in life is to make Jose smile! It doesn't happen too often and if it happens because of Liverpool - well done!
"I said a few things [in the past]. I cannot really remember what I said but I know what I said about the Pogba transfer. I would never talk about Manchester United unless somebody asks me about it but I am polite enough to give an answer if somebody asks me. That's not always the smartest thing to do, and I have absolutely no problem with what Jose Mourinho is saying. It is a free world and he can say whatever he wants.
"If he is happy about our transfers even better, but we know that it does not mean you win automatically whatever. Man United has a strong team and they will strengthen that in the next two weeks. They are already strong, the same as Man City and Tottenham. Arsenal and Chelsea have new managers but they will be strong - plus a few others - so it's our job to improve our own situation.
"That's what we try to do but that has to happen on the pitch, not in the transfer market. We want to deliver constantly. We want to improve that's what we want to show and we will see where that leads us to. Improvement means playing better football, being more consistent and entertaining the crowd in a very specific way/ We are Liverpool and we stand for football. All I can say is that we will try everything we can to be as successful as possible and in the end we will see."
Liverpool finished fourth in the Premier League last season, 25 points behind champions Manchester City, while also reaching the Champions League final.
Daniel Lewis
