Jurgen Klopp claims Liverpool had ‘no other option’ in selling Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazil international ended a 14-month saga over his long-term future after finalising a £142 million move to Barcelona on Monday.
Nou Camp chiefs previously attempted to end Coutinho’s stay at Anfield last summer but were routinely denied despite tabling three successive bids.
However Klopp insists that the Reds’ decision to part with the playmaker after five years when his commitment could not be guaranteed for a further six months.
He said: “There was no other option. I would say it’s a pretty easy answer.
“If there’s somebody maybe who should be angry, massively disappointed, whatever in this case then it could be the manager of the club.
“But I’m not, because we tried absolutely everything to convince Phil to stay here and carry on going the way together with us.
“It was exactly like everybody knows – it was his dream – and it’s the truth when I say he left Liverpool only for one club and that was Barcelona.
“There was a moment when we had to accept that. The club was fighting until the last second and that’s the case.
“I knew when it will come up again in this transfer window, and it came up massively that it will be very difficult to use him in the second part of the season.
“It would have been very difficult if we say – and we could have done of course with his contract – ‘You have a contract and you have to stay here’.
“That was a decision I have to make; does it make sense, do I think I can still use him, can he help us still?
“To be honest, it was 100 per cent clear [there was] no chance. He was not ready to do that anymore.
“He did fantastic in the first part of the season after things we had to deal with in the summer transfer window.
“But it was clear that’s over now – he cannot do that anymore so we made that decision. That’s it.”
Attention has already turned to Coutinho’s replacement, with Liverpool linked to both Atletico Madrid talisman Antoine Griezmann and Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez.
But Klopp insists that direct solutions will appear within the current ranks at Anfield as well as from further afield during the January transfer window.
“We don’t have to replace him,” he added.
“What we have to do is we have to step up. We played fantastic football without Phil.
“I don’t want to sound disrespectful because I really liked him but we only have to carry on. We had fantastic games with him and not so good games with him.
“We have open eyes through this transfer window but we will not make crazy things.”