Jurgen Klopp made transfer target regret Liverpool snub – ‘I missed special journey’

Mario Gotze has yet again opened up about turning down a move to Liverpool, despite being linked with the club during Jurgen Klopp’s tenure. Klopp, who took over at Liverpool in 2015 and enjoyed a successful nine-year stint at Anfield, winning the Premier League and Champions League among other titles, was keen to bolster his squad in his first summer window in charge.

Gotze, who was rumoured to be on Liverpool’s radar at the time, ultimately chose to leave Bayern Munich for a return to Borussia Dortmund, turning down the chance to reunite with Klopp.

But, the 32-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder, recalling his previous ties to Klopp, disclosed further details of their conversation from eight years ago regarding a potential switch to Anfield, and he previously addmitted he’s grown to regret the decision.

“In 2016, I nearly went to a famous team in England called Liverpool,” Gotze penned in The Players’ Tribune. “The coach there was a man named Jurgen Klopp.

“I went to his house in Liverpool, where we sat down together in the living room with our wives. What makes Jurgen special is that he sees Mario the person.

“We did not talk much about football. He wasn’t saying, ‘how can I convince you? What do you want?’ He asked me about life in general, and I think he said something like, ‘look, Mario, you’ll play a lot, and you’ll have fun here. I know that’s the most important thing for you. The club is amazing. Have a think about it’. I really wanted to play for him again.”

However, Gotze opted to rejoin Dortmund, driven by his desire for immediate success when dodging the previously eighth-placed Reds, reports the Liverpool Echo.

“But, I also wanted to win things right away,” he added. “I was so impatient! Liverpool had just finished eighth in England, and Dortmund had come second in Germany. So I went back. And as much as I love Dortmund, I do feel that I missed out on a special journey with Jurgen.”

Gotze also admitted that he didn’t fully understand Klopp’s long-term vision for Liverpool at the time, robbing him of a perhaps defining spell in the Premier League.

“I didn’t understand that he needed time to build a great team at Liverpool,” Gotze concluded. “There was not really any need for me to play in the Champions League right away. I just didn’t think that far ahead.”