• Premier League

Rodgers: Money can't buy success

Brendan Rodgers has brought the best out of players such as Daniel Sturridge this season © Getty Images

Enlarge

Brendan Rodgers has taken a swipe at the big-spending culture of Europe's top clubs by insisting that splashing the cash won't guarantee them success.

Chelsea have spent £112.7 million on new arrivals in the last two transfer windows and Manchester City £102m, but Liverpool have surged up to second in the Premier League on a relatively meagre transfer outlay of £50.2m.

Their comprehensive 3-0 win at Manchester United last Sunday left them four points off leaders Chelsea, having played a game less, with Jose Mourinho's side and fellow title rivals City still to go to Anfield.

Can Liverpool compete?

Liverpool came close to signing Yevhen Konoplyanka in January © Getty Images

• Liverpool could miss out on yet another transfer target with Tottenham set to edge them in the race for Yevhen Konoplyanka, according to Dnipro president Ihor Kolomoyskyi.
• Liverpool came close to agreeing a deal to sign the winger, who has scored against Tottenham in the Europa League this season, towards the end of the January transfer window and will revisit the move in the summer, according to various reports.
• However, they may miss out again, with Kolomoyskyi claiming he is already in advanced talks with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and that life in London would be more enjoyable for the player than on Merseyside.
• He told Ukrainian TV station 2+2: "If Spurs want Konoplyanka, I'd happily sell. London life is better than Liverpool. Spurs' interest is strong and advanced."
• Click here to read the full story

As Liverpool mount a challenge for their first league title since 1990, Rodgers ascribed the club's upward mobility to his players embracing his philosophy.

"Teams spend a billion quid and it does not guarantee anything," Rodgers said.

"Once you put your ideas in place and the players start to crack it, we will have success. Money can't buy that.

"It is about coaching and man management and dealing with people, having a great staff, finding a cause for the players to fight for.

"All of that comes into it and that is something we have done in the period I have been here.

"Of course we will be in the market for good and top players but there is more to it than that."

Rodgers missed out to Chelsea in the race for the signatures of Willian and Mohamed Salah this season, and also saw summer target Henrikh Mkhitaryan opt for Borussia Dortmund.

He will surely be given money to spend in the summer with Liverpool set to end their four-year Champions League exile and admitted he would not be averse to bolstering his squad.

"You know when you're employed by Liverpool it is not to sit in seventh. You have to be up there and try to be the best," Rodgers added.

"The players believe in it, the work has got them the rewards, and I'm not surprised by it. It's a bit earlier that what I thought, maybe by a year, but I am not surprised.

"Having the money is great and we will be in the market to compete but what is important is still having a vision of how you want the club to progress."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd