Jurgen Klopp has hailed the impact of Burno Fernandes on Manchester United and described his amazement at the first time of seeing the midfielder play against his side.
Liverpool were on a pre-season tour in the USA during the summer of 2019 and faced Fernandes with Sporting Lisbon in a friendly match at the Yankee Stadium as part of the Western Union Cup.
The Portugal international scored inside the opening five minutes against the Reds and Klopp has revealed that Fernandes' ability made him sit back and simply say "wow".
That game, which ended 2-2, was the first time Klopp had seen Fernandes in action up close and the manager got an initial glimpse of what the creative 26-year-old was set to bring to Old Trafford.
"He's an outstanding player," Klopp said ahead of Liverpool's top-of-the-table clash with United at Anfield on Sunday.
"Before he joined United we played against Sporting in the USA on the tour and in that game already, you could just see 'wow'.
"Obviously, everybody knew him but in the first game my team played against him you could really see he was the difference maker.
"That's what he is showing now and it's settled. He's a very influential player for United and involved in a lot of things.
"Obviously, people talk mostly about the goal involvements which is very important but he is the link up in a lot of other situations as well.
"I don't know him well enough but he seems to be a leader too. A good signing for United, unfortunately!"
