Jurgen Klopp has spiced things up ahead of Sunday’s visit of Manchester United by revealing that he turned down the chance to manage Liverpool’s greatest rivals.
The German risked the wrath of Reds fans by comparing retired United boss Sir Alex Ferguson – the cause of so much pain at Anfield – to Merseyside legend John Lennon, as The Mirror reports.
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Klopp is new to this fierce rivalry and perhaps does not understand the severity and intensity of it – so he can be forgiven for such an ill-advised compliment and comparison.
But he has ensured that he has all of the Kop on side ahead of this weekend’s clash by telling the story of how he rejected the chance to succeed Ferguson at Old Trafford in 2013.
Klopp has, again perhaps naively, admitted that he was flattered by United’s interest, but ultimately would have knocked back the old enemy because he was committed to Borussia Dortmund.
“Yeah we spoke,” he is quoted by The Mirror as saying “It was a big honour for me, the whole talk, to be honest. But in life timing is always important and that was a time I couldn’t leave Dortmund. That was it.
“It wasn’t like this where you say ‘come in March or May’. You are in April and you are in the middle of the planning for next season. You have this player and this player and this player coming because you are there, but then you are not there anymore. That doesn’t work. Not in my life.
“I didn’t hear about a real offer but, if there was, I could not have done it. I first had to finish the job with Dortmund and then think about other things. Maybe that is not smart, but that is my way.”
Thankfully, as things transpired, Klopp is on our side of the divide. Perhaps after his first taste of the fixture on Sunday, he will learn that he must stay there 365 days a year.
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