Jurgen Klopp admits that the pressure is on for Liverpool to end their silverware rut

Jurgen Klopp has admitted the pressure is on Liverpool this season to finally end their painful wait for silverware.

Klopp has significantly rebuilt his squad over the summer and spent over £170million in a bid to challenge defending champions Manchester City for the Premier League title.

Liverpool reached last season’s Champions League final, losing to Real Madrid, but Klopp knows he will be expected to deliver further progress to meet rising expectations and pay back the financial backing from owners FSG.

The £65million record capture of Brazilian international goalkeeper Alisson appears crucial, with many supporters fearing the absence of a quality No. 1 has damaged Liverpool’s hopes of success under the German.

But the signings of Naby Keita and Fabinho, in particular, to go alongside PFA Player of the Year Mohamed Salah and £75m defender Virgil van Dijk, have generated a tidal wave of optimism ahead of the forthcoming campaign.

Kenny Dalglish was the last Liverpool manager to win a trophy with the League Cup victory over Cardiff City in 2012 and Klopp has acknowledged he must start writing his own history.

When asked if Liverpool have to win something this season, he said: “You are right and people will say that. It is the next step. It would be the next step and we need to be ready for that.

“I cannot give guarantees here but I understand if people think that. I know about the expectations and that is completely normal.

“We expect more from ourselves. We will go again for the championship and each kind of cup but that does not mean I can sit here and we will get it. We have the highest ambitions, 100 percent.

“Other teams, of course, will do transfer business as well. They will not be weaker than last year. City brought in [Riyad] Mahrez. I did not hear that they lost one player so far, so it means the quality of last year plus Mahrez.

“Manchester United will go for it too and that’s completely normal. First of all we have to play the football that gives us an opportunity to win something. I am confident we can build on last season.”  

Klopp is preparing for his third season at Anfield and is still waiting for a number of World Cup stars to return as he fine-tunes his preparations.  

Though Salah and Sadio Mane have joined up with the Liverpool squad in America, Klopp is without a number of key players including Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino, Dejan Lovren and Trent Alexander-Arnold.  

New £13m signing Xherdan Shaqiri is set to link up with the squad in the next 24 hours while Alisson will not be with Liverpool until the training camp in France next week.  

But Klopp is only focused on the curtain-raiser against West Ham on August 12, insisting Liverpool’s start is crucial to their hopes of success.  

“It's not like the good old times when you had your squad for six weeks in pre-season and spent one week team building by going to a forest in Sweden with nothing to eat, like I did when I was young. That's not possible anymore. We are used to these circumstances,” he said.  

“The first few games are absolutely important. I don't ask for an easy way. It's normal.

“We have West Ham and Crystal Palace to start with and that's tough enough. I don't know how many players West Ham had at the World Cup but they are signing player after player and they will be a new team for sure.

“It's a tough start as the Premier League always is. It's also a Sunday game and then a Monday game so it's a long week and I'm fine with that.

“I want to have the best start ever but we all know that something can happen and then everything is questioned in a second. I don't want to prepare anyone for a bad start because I don't want to have one but it is possible, I cannot ignore that completely.”

Klopp, meanwhile, is facing an anxious wait over the fitness of Cameroon international Joel Matip, who limped off in the friendly against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.

Matip missed the end of last season with a thigh injury and picked up a suspected muscle tear, ensuring the defender will be doubtful for the opening game at home to West Ham.