Jurgen Klopp has opened up in detail about why he rejected the chance to join Manchester Unitedin an exclusive chat with Mirror Football columnist Robbie Fowler.
The Liverpool boss has previously spoken of when the Red Devils were interested in acquiring his services, but never explained just why he turned down the chance to take over from David Moyes.
United of course turned to Louis van Gaal instead and a year later the German took over from Brendan Rodgers at Anfield.
When asked ‘Why Liverpool’ by Fowler, Klopp explains that the other teams he spoke to didn’t sound like football clubs.
“I love the history,” began the Liverpool boss. “I really am a football romantic. I knew I probably can help. They maybe really need me, in this time. I know what I’m good at.
“When they told me about the problems they had I thought ‘OK, yeah, I am probably the really right manager for that club’.
“A little thing. Liverpool is a world class brand, big, big, big, but in Melwood, you know it Robbie, it is still a family, nothing else, and you can go in and feel that.
“I have to develop and improve, sure, but I don’t want to go into the office in the morning to wear a tie. That is not me.
“So when you see the pictures – and I realise it as well, by the way – I look still like a player… that’s not cool, but that’s me. I go in with a baseball cap and they still respect me, I don’t have to act in a specific way.
“They took me like I am, they didn’t ask me to do anything else, so I could focus from the first day completely on football.
“It is a football club. A FOOTBALL club.
“I had talks with other clubs and they didn’t sound like a football club. It sounded like marketing, image, you need to sign this, you need to sign that. And I thought ‘wow, that’s not the game I love’.
“It’s all part of football, but it can not be the number one, two, three, four, priority. First of all please try to improve the game we play.
“And that’s what I am good in. All the rest can happen but it’s not so important for me.”
mirror.co.uk
