Jurgen Klopp has named three footballing superstars he regrets not signing while at Borussia Dortmund – before they all went on to bigger things.
The legendary former Liverpool boss won everything there was to win during an illustrious managerial career, famously winning the Champions League in 2019 before ending the Reds’ 30-year wait for a Premier League title the season after.
He also led Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga titles, pipping Bayern Munich to the crown twice before the Bavarians embarked on their era of dominance.
At the heart of his success was man-management and recruitment, with Klopp shaping a plethora of the worldbeaters that have become synonymous with the modern game.
Take the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Robert Lewandowski and many, many more. All players that were hardly the finished article when they started working with Klopp, but were bona fide megastars by the time they parted ways.
However, Klopp did not always get his wish when it came to bringing in talent – naming a trifecta of now-fabled players he regrets missing out on while in the Ruhr.
Jurgen Klopp is Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer after calling time on his managerial career
Klopp won everything there was to win, earning icon status at both Liverpool and Dortmund
Now in his new cushty role of Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull, Klopp said that Sadio Mane was the first star he unfortunately wasn’t able to sign Dortmund – a regret he would rectify at his next club, of course.
‘There are a few Dortmund fans in the crowd, so I have to apologise for not bringing Sadio Mane to Dortmund,’ said Klopp at a fundraising gala in Cape Town.
‘I could say now that I was young and naive – but I was no longer that young and not that naive. I noticed it when we brought him to Liverpool. I thought: “Oh my God, that’s a lot of money for a guy I could have had for a lot less three years ago.”‘
Klopp then revealed that he missed out on signing future Tottenham talisman Heung-min Son while he was only just emerging at Hamburger SV.
The South Korean went on to join Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen before making his big move to the Premier League, where he has since scored 126 goals for Spurs.
‘Son was playing for Hamburg at the time – and I didn’t sign him,’ he added. ‘I don’t even remember why we didn’t sign him.
‘I saw him in the Premier League and just thought: “My God, you were so stupid!”‘
Klopp’s third and final regret regards a player that still haunts Klopp to this day, having played a crucial part in the infliction of multiple cases of Premier League heartache for Liverpool.
Klopp missed out on Sadio Mane at Dortmund by made amends by signing him at Liverpool
The German also regrets signing Heung-min Son, who went on to star at Tottenham Hotspur
Now renowned as the midfield master of Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne could have been under Klopp’s tutelage at Dortmund as he looked to rebuild his name following an ill-fated spell at Chelsea.
‘Once again to the Dortmund fans: we were very close to a deal with Kevin De Bruyne,’ he said.
‘Then he knocked us out in the cup final with Wolfsburg. A double setback.’
De Bruyne set the Bundesliga alight with Wolfsburg before earning a switch to the Etihad, since winning six Premier League titles, a Champions League and a Club World Cup under Klopp’s long-time managerial arch-rival Pep Guardiola.
While Klopp will struggle to get the memories of two instances of final day despair, missing out on two Premier League titles to Manchester City in 2019 and 2022, the German nevertheless left Liverpool as an icon after restoring the club’s status as one of Europe’s greatest.
After joining Liverpool at a time of stagnation in 2015, he took the Reds to heights not seen in decades across his nine-season tenure, famously bringing the Premier League crown back to Anfield.
Tears were shed when he announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the 2023/24 season.
But after building such a well-oiled machine, he left successor Arne Slot with a superb squad to inherit.
Kevin De Bruyne pulled the strings at Manchester City during their multiple tussles with Liverpool for the Premier League title, inflicting heartache onto Klopp’s side many a time
Klopp left Liverpool last season as a legend after restoring the club’s status as a European titan
With a team built by Klopp at his disposal, Slot has picked up where the German left off and has led an astounding title charge in his debut season, which sees the club currently sitting 16 points clear at the top with nine games to play.
Should Liverpool reclaim the Premier League title, they will level Manchester United’s record tally of 20 top-flight trophies.