I rejected $28m Liverpool transfer and now regret missing special journey with Jurgen Klopp

Former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Mario Gotze, who scored the winning goal for Germany in the 2014 World Cup final, has opened up on rejecting the chance to sign for Liverpool.

"In 2016, I nearly went to a famous team in England called Liverpool," Gotze writes for The Players' Tribune. "The coach there was a man named Jurgen Klopp. Maybe you have seen pictures of him? Tall, big smile, very funny. Jurgen had been my coach at Dortmund, and I did not realise how lucky I was to have him.

"I went to his house in Liverpool, where we sat down together in the living room with our wives. What makes Jurgen special is that he sees Mario the person. We did not talk much about football. He wasn’t saying, "How can I convince you? What do you want?".

"He asked me about life in general, and I think he said something like, "Look, Mario, you’ll play a lot, and you’ll have fun here. I know that’s the most important thing for you. The club is amazing. Have a think about it". I really wanted to play for him again."

Liverpool ultimately signed Sadio Mane that summer instead and Gotze's career never really kicked on. He didn't get enough matches at Bayern Munich, struggled with injuries after returning to Dortmund for $28m (£22m/€26m), and is now with Eintracht Frankfurt. But why didn't Gotze want to move to England at the time even though Klopp was there?

"I wanted to win things right away. I was so impatient!" he continued. "Liverpool had just finished eighth in England, and Dortmund had come second in Germany. Dortmund had also signed Andre Schurrle, one of my best friends in football.

"I remembered how much fun it had been the first time, when we won two league titles and made it to the Champions League final. Maybe things would be like in the good old days, you know? So I went back.

"And as much as I love Dortmund, I do feel that I missed out on a special journey with Jurgen. I didn’t understand that he needed time to build a great team at Liverpool. There was not really any need for me to play in the Champions League right away. I just didn’t think that far ahead."

Liverpool.com says: Gotze probably made a mistake by not signing for Liverpool but it worked out nicely for the Reds, who didn't end up playing with a number 10 when they were at their best under Klopp. This was a sliding doors moment and things might not have gone so well had they panned out differently.

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