Mario Gotze recalled that Jurgen Klopp was left angered by his decision to accept a move to Borussia Dortmund’s rivals Bayern Munich during the manager’s days coaching in the Bundesliga.
The player transferred to Bavaria in 2013, though the switch did not entirely go to plan, as he struggled for minutes beyond his first two seasons before eventually making a return to his former club.
“I told the trainer (Klopp), the managing director (Hans-Joachim Watzke) and the sports director (Michael Zorc) about it. They weren’t happy about it,” the 29-year-old said on the 433: The Home of Football podcast (via Bavarian Football Works). “Maybe he understood me a little, he knew me, but in this situation he was very angry that I had made this decision.”
The German international’s career has been on something of a downward turn ever since he initially departed BVB, with the midfielder now plying his trade in the Eredivisie with PSV.
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Given the sheer array of quality talents at Klopp’s disposal in Merseyside, it can be easy to forget that the German once had to contend with his closest rivals consistently poaching his best players.
Though faced with the challenge of limited financial resources in comparison to some of Liverpool’s extremely well-funded title rivals, the conditions at hand are certainly far more favourable for success.
The ability to keep players like Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk and co. at Anfield on long-term contracts certainly marks a significant departure from the circumstances that constrained his progress at Dortmund.
Liverpool’s net spend since 2012 is close to that of several PL midtable sides