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Jurgen Klopp: Jordon Ibe, Brad Smith sales 'perfect' for Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp has hailed the transfers of Jordon Ibe and Brad Smith to Bournemouth as "perfect" for Liverpool due to the buy-back clauses inserted in the deals for the pair.

Ibe, 20, joined the the Cherries for £15 million last month before left-back Smith, 22, followed him to the South Coast a few weeks later in a £6m transfer.

With Liverpool's limited number of games this season due to a lack of European football and strength throughout the squad, Klopp allowed the duo to depart Anfield, but only on the condition that the Reds could buy them back for a fixed price in the future.

"Things like this are usually really expensive but these aren't," Klopp told the Liverpool Echo. "Yes, there's a bit of a risk. It's not that you can sell someone for £10m with a buy-back clause of £8m. That would be fantastic.

"The difference between loaning a player and selling a player isn't so great. Of course you get a fee when you sell a player. But in both situations you think they are old enough and ready to play but in that moment they don't have a fixed position in your team.

"At that age you have to play and that was the case with Brad Smith and Jordon Ibe. They had the possibility to do that [with Bournemouth] and they were deals that absolutely made sense for both sides."

The Liverpool manager added: "We will watch them, they will have pressure there, they will fight for the league or whatever, and we will see them growing up in pressure situations. That's perfect.

"If a player is on loan it's different. It's like going on holiday. You can always go home. That's difficult for these guys as they are always between clubs.

"Now Smith and Ibe are there and we have buy-back clauses. Hopefully they do really well and then in the end we and them will decide.

"The goodbyes were okay with both of them. Liverpool is still in their hearts so we will have a chance if they do well."