Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has admitted he tried to entice Jurgen Klopp back to Germany after the manager guided Liverpool to Champions League glory.
Klopp spent seven years with Dortmund, winning two Bundesliga titles, before taking up his current role at Liverpool.
Dortmund failed to make their mark in the Bundesliga during the 2017/18 campaign and Watzke admitted he didn’t expect Klopp to take up his offer, even if he couldn’t help but make an approach.
In his new book REAL LOVE. A life with BVB, Watzke wrote: “I knew that Jurgen would [decline], that he will fulfil his contract in Liverpool.
“Jurgen has always fulfilled his contracts, but if you want to go new ways and we had to break new ground at BVB, then at least I had to ask Jurgen if he could possibly imagine that.
“I did not expect that at all, but I would not have forgiven myself for not asking him at that moment.”
Klopp has already guided Liverpool to their sixth European Cup, and with the club now eight points clear of second-place Manchester City in the Premier League, he looks primed to add England’s biggest domestic trophy to his cabinet.
Watzke attributed the reason for Klopp’s lasting success to his honesty.
“The most important thing in our relationship was and is that we can rely on each other blindly,” he added.
“Jurgen never lied to me. He is always honest, even in the job. And I never lied to him.
“Even in the most difficult phase, in the season of separation, when we crashed to the last place sometime shortly before the separation in the Bundesliga, that was the case.”
