Liverpool Legend Praises Jurgen Klopp For Signing Of 'Fantastic' Goalscorer

Former Liverpool star John Barnes lauded Jurgen Klopp for bringing in prolific goalscorer Diogo Jota to Anfield.

Barnes is one of the Premier League all-time greats whom Jota has impressed with his incredible form this season for Liverpool. While the former Wolverhampton Wanderers star appears to have picked up right where he left off in terms of scoring goals, the 57-year-old ESPN pundit thinks Jota is now reaching his full potential in Liverpool.

"I have been, I thought he was a good player for Wolves, I thought he would do well but I don’t think anyone would imagine he’d be doing this well," Barnes recently told Bonuscodebets of Jota. "Every time Jota has come on as a sub or started he’s done really well and it shows from a recruitment point of view that Jurgen Klopp is still spot on with looking at players that he knows can fit into what he wants."

"[Jurgen] Klopp buys players that fits into his system," he added. "If Diogo Jota went to another club he won’t be able to do what he’s doing at Liverpool, neither would Sadio Mane, neither would Mohamed Salah."

Despite praising Klopp’s eye for talent, Barnes pointed out that the renowned manager doesn’t have the power to turn signings into “good players.” Instead, it is the club’s “system” that does the job.

As for Jota, Barnes thinks he’s perfect for Liverpool and wouldn’t have performed as well if he had gone to other clubs.

"Klopp is not turning them into good players, they are good players, Liverpool’s system and style suits them," the pundit pointed out.

"If [Diogo] Jota goes to Barcelona, for example, he won’t go there and score loads of goals or play as well," he continued. "Jota is a fantastic player, but there’s no way that Jota would be able to go to Real Madrid and do the same thing, it’s all down to Jurgen Klopp and finding those players that suits his style."

Jota has already scored seven goals in 10 games for Liverpool this season, including a sensational hat-trick in the 5-0 win against Atalanta on Tuesday.

Following Jota’s impressive start with the Premier League champs, Klopp said that the 23-year-old turned out to be everything they expected him to be and more.

"I’m not sure if ‘surprised’ is the right word, but I don’t expect that, to be honest," Klopp said of Jota’s start at Anfield. "He is the player we thought he will be and we thought as well that we can help him to reach the next level, like he can help us to reach the next level because of his quality."