FSG already have £225m reasons to give Liverpool what they want in January

The words of reassurance from Jurgen Klopp's agent over the manager's long-term future were welcome for Liverpool supporters this week, if a little unnecessary. Klopp's representative, Marc Kosicke, reaffirmed his client's dedication to the cause in quotes given to Sky Germany, seemingly putting to bed concerns that were never really there for those who populate Anfield.

"I can assure [you] that Jurgen Klopp has no intention of resigning from Liverpool FC," Mr Kosicke said. "The fact that problems could arise this season due to the past intensive season was taken into account by the club's owners before the start of the season.

"Jurgen enjoys the backing of the people in charge and is in regular contact with them. He loves the club, his team and the fans and is determined to continue and successfully complete the transition in Liverpool. He didn't extend his contract until 2026 for nothing."

Given that Kosicke has represented Klopp throughout his entire time at Anfield - and shares a relationship with him that began long before the first meeting they held with Mike Gordon in the offices of New York law firm Sterling and Shearman in 2015 - it's fair to surmise the agent has a better idea than anyone with regards to what the Liverpool boss is thinking just now.

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So even though there was no real suggestion of anything otherwise, the question was asked and it was perhaps heartening for some fans to hear Klopp's dedication reiterated during what has been a difficult three months or so for the Reds.

Around the same time as Kosicke's comments were aired, reports elsewhere from Germany also started to surface that Klopp had in fact held high-level talks with the club's owners, Fenway Sports Group, about what is needed to rebuild the squad back to a level they have been used to operating at over much of the last five years.

Inevitably, the headlines surrounded the potential move for Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham, but the most salient point from the report in the respected Sport Bild was that Klopp has been in contact with his paymasters over what is really needed to freshen things up on Merseyside.

At a time when the midfield is in increasingly obvious need for revitalisation, Liverpool could - and should - be heading for a vitally important few weeks on the other side of the winter break for the World Cup.

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The January transfer window is still a little under two months away but Klopp's men have just four more Premier League fixtures to negotiate before the player trading can officially begin. The winter window, we're often told, is a seller's market where quality is scarce and upgrades are hard to source, but conventional wisdom cannot be used as an excuse for Liverpool to stay inactive at the turn of the year.

Some of the Reds' best signings of the last decade or so have been brought to the club during the mid-season window. Luis Diaz's arrival provided the squad with the impetus needed to sustain a push for all four trophies from January onwards and he ended his first six months as a Reds player with both FA and Carabao Cup winners' medals for his efforts.

Virgil van Dijk was the transformational signing that took Liverpool from pretenders to contenders under Klopp, while Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez all joined midway through campaigns. Quality in January is there to be unearthed, if there is a determination to find it.

In 2021, short-term stop-gaps brought in to ease a crippling injury crisis, in the form of Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak, did little to help a side scrambling around for a spot in the top four. The same temporary fix cannot be the approach this time around. The fortunes of deadline day loan arrival Arthur Melo should act as the cautionary tale on the score.

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Liverpool's injury-hit and half-fit squad need real reinforcements to stand any chance of making sure they finish this season inside the top four places in the Premier League. As the Reds stare up at an eight-point gap between themselves and Newcastle United in fourth, prior to Sunday's trip to Tottenham, it's a situation that already looks grave for Klopp.

Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle - three teams all above Liverpool right now - will all likely spend again when the window opens and sporting director Julian Ward must be allowed to do more than simply press his face to the glass of the transfer window, even if the returns of Diaz, Naby Keita and Diogo Jota will eventually provide a significant injection of quality that is already within the ranks later this season.

Klopp's chances of building his second great Liverpool would be majorly impacted by a lack of revenue that comes from being part of the Champions League group stages. Their runs to the finals of 2018, 2019 and 2022, for example, earned the club around £225m, while significant returns were also banked in 2020 and '21. Now is the time to speculate if they are to accumulate.

And given the self-sufficient strategy of FSG that is sometimes mistaken for Anfield austerity, failure to enter the group stages of next season's Champions League will have long-lasting ramifications for what Klopp is able to do as manager in what are likely his final few years in the role.

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Why FSG might have to finally relent on the iron-clad masterplan

When the going is good, as it largely has been in recent years, the Fenway operation looks like the most enviable and forward-thinking model of ownership in football. But when results begin to wane, as has been the case since early August, it can also appear like absenteeism. The fine margins on the pitch are just as applicable in the boardroom.

Top-four failure will set Liverpool back years; it's why FSG might have to finally relent on the iron-clad masterplan that has underpinned so much of the success of the Klopp era.