Mario Gotze has admitted his Jurgen Klopp regret and explained how the Liverpool manager is different to Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola.
Gotze - who netted the winning goal for Germany in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina but whose career has been badly hit by injuries since - started his playing days under Klopp at Borussia Dortmund in 2009.
He quit them for Bayern Munich in 2013 but returned to the Westfalenstadion in 2016 before joining Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on a free transfer in October.
At one point Gotze was even linked with a potential reunion with Klopp at Liverpool and the 28-year-old admits that he might have been too hasty in ending their working relationship when he departed for Bavaria.
On his latest move to the Netherlands, where he plays under German compatriot Roger Schmidt, Gotze told Dutch publication AD : “My father was happy for me, because he knows how important the coach is in the choice of a club.
“He saw how Jurgen Klopp dealt with me as a teenage talent at Dortmund and how I later worked at Bayern Munich under Pep Guardiola.
“I see [Klopp] as one of the most important people in my life. There is a relationship of trust between us.
“With Guardiola, the relationship was more business-like.”
Gotze added: “I was just 21 when I went from Dortmund to Bayern. That of course also gave a storm of publicity.
“In retrospect I might have stayed longer with Kloppo, but it was certainly not a mistake to go to Bayern. I wanted to challenge myself, get to know Pep's philosophy.
“With Bayern we reached three semi-finals in the Champions League and Guardiola taught me to see football from very different positions on the field. Guardiola literally put you anywhere.”
