Jurgen Klopp appointed three football superstars which he regrets not to sign during his stay at Borussia Dortmund – before they are all more important.
The former legendary boss of Liverpool won everything there was to win during an illustrious management career, winning the Champions League in 2019 before ending the Reds 30 years for a title of the Premier League the season after.
He also led Dortmund to consecutive titles from Bundesliga, piping Bayern Munich at the crown twice before the Bavarians launched into their era of domination.
At the heart of his success was man management and recruitment, Klopp shaping a plethora of WorldBearers who have become synonymous with modern game.
Take people like Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk, Robert Lewandowski and many others. All the players who were hardly the finished article when they started working with Klopp, but who were Megastars in good faith when they separated.
However, Klopp did not always obtain his wish when it came to calling on talents – to appoint a trifecta of now overflowing players which he regrets missing during the Ruhr.
Jurgen Klopp is the world football chief of Red Bull after calling time on his management career
Klopp won everything there was to win, winning the status of icon in Liverpool and Dortmund
Now, in his new comfortable role of the world football chief in Red Bull, Klopp said that Sadio Mane was the first star he had unfortunately not been able to sign in Dortmund – a regret that he would rectify in his next club, of course.
“There are a few fans of Dortmund in the crowd, so I must apologize for not having brought Sadio Mane in Dortmund,” Klopp told a fundraising gala in Cape Town.
“I could now say that I was young and naive – but I was no longer so young and not so naive. I noticed it when we brought it to Liverpool. I thought: “Oh my God, it’s a lot of money for a guy I could have had a lot less than three years ago.”
Klopp then revealed that he had failed to sign the future son of Tottenham Heung-Min when he emerged to Hamburger SV.
The South Korean then joined Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen, before moving to the Premier League, where he has since scored 126 goals for the Spurs.
“His played for Hamburg at the time-and I did not sign it,” he added. “I don’t even remember why we did not sign it.
“ I saw him in the Premier League and I just thought: “My God, you were so stupid!” ‘
The third and last regret of Klopp considers a player who still haunts Klopp to date, after having played a crucial role in the infliction of several cases of premier league sorrow for Liverpool.
Klopp missed Sadio Mane in Dortmund by making amends by signing it to Liverpool
The German also regrets signing Heung-Min, who continued to play Tottenham Hotspur
Now deemed to be the midfielder of Manchester City, Kevin de Bruyne could have been under the supervision of Klopp in Dortmund while he was trying to rebuild his name after an unfortunate spell in Chelsea.
“Once again at Dortmund fans: we were very close to an agreement with Kevin de Bruyne,” he said.
“Then he knocked out in the Cup final with Wolfsburg. A double reverse.
De Bruyne put the Bundesliga Alight with Wolfsburg before winning a visit to the Etihad, since he won six Premier League titles, a Champions League and a World Cup under the direction of Klopp, Pep Guarola, for a long time from Klopp, Guardiola.
While Klopp will find it difficult to obtain the memories of two cases of despair of the last day, missing two Premier League titles in Manchester City in 2019 and 2022, the German nevertheless left Liverpool as icon after having restored the status of the club as the largest in Europe.
After joining Liverpool at a time of stagnation in 2015, he took the Reds to heights not seen during his decades through his mandate of nine season, bringing the crown of the Premier League to Anfield.
Tears were shed when he announced that he would leave the club at the end of the 2023/24 season.
But after building a as well oiled machine, he left successor Arne Slot with a superb team to inherit.
Kevin de Bruyne pulled the ropes to Manchester City during their multiple fights with Liverpool for the title of Premier League, inflicting Klopp Klopp next to Klopp Several times
Klopp left Liverpool last season as legend after restoring the status of the club as a European Titan
With a team built by Klopp at his disposal, Slot resumed where the German stopped aside and led an astonishing title charge in his first season, which sees the club which is currently sitting at 16 points clearly at the top with nine games to play.
If Liverpool recovered the title of the Premier League, they will equalize the Manchester United record of 20 high -flying trophies.