Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Borussia Dortmund CEO Joachim Watzke tried to lure him back to Germany in the summer of 2018.
In a new biography about Watzke called ‘Real Love: A life with BVB’, Klopp says of a call he took in May 2018: “At some point my phone rang while I was on the plane and Aki was on it: 'Jurgen, you have to come back'. I laughed, I thought he was kidding.
“'Are you stupid, have you been drinking? How do you get that idea, I have a few more years in Liverpool'.
“I do not know how serious he was at that moment, but I realised that he wanted me to be more willing to respond.”
Watzke admits that he always expected Klopp to knock back his advances, with a coach who would go on to claim Champions League glory with Liverpool in 2018-19 tied to a deal with the Reds through to 2022.
“I knew that Jurgen would say no and that he would fulfil his contract in Liverpool,” Watzke said. “But if you want to go in a new direction, and we had to hit a new path at BVB at that point, then I had to at least ask Jurgen if it was a possibility. I did not expect it at all, but I would never have forgiven myself had I not at least asked him at that moment.”
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