Joel Matip is a huge fan of Jurgen Klopp, it seems.
The boss moved fast to secure the Bosman signing of the African centre-half who now comes in to compete for a spot in the middle of our defence.
The position has seen some good but many poor performances over the past few seasons, and it’s imperative that he or fellow new arrival Ragnar Klavan prove good signings.
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“Jürgen Klopp is a great coach. He was the coach of Dortmund when I was at Schalke but now I have the possibility to play for him at Liverpool,” the Cameroon international told the official website.
“It was a very easy decision to play for him at Liverpool. It was a very easy decision to play for him too because he can make every player better.
“Schalke versus Dortmund is the biggest derby in German football. They were hard games because his team was so good and we had some very close results.
“Those results were not always good for us, though!”
Matip is unlikely to start the season in defence, due to an injury which saw him miss most of our pre-season fixtures. He returned to the lineup against Mainz on Sunday, but was part of a defence which conceded four goals – so we’re pretty sure Klopp will go with Klavan and Dejan Lovren – who played against Barcelona the day previous…
He will get a chance at some point, of course, and we’re sure he’ll cement himself as an important first-team player.
In Germany, Matip earned a reputation as a rangy defender with excellent composure on the ball who offered a consistent goal-threat, too.
We’ve offloaded Martin Skrtel this summer, and think in Matip, we have a younger upgrade – all the more impressive when you remember he didn’t cost us a penny.