Jurgen Klopp has revealed for the first time the reasons why he turned down the Manchester United job after Sir Alex Ferguson's departure. In a recent interview, the German coach confessed that the projects offered by the English club did not match his work philosophy.
"They told me in the meeting: 'We'll get all the players you want... we'll bring this, this, that'. And I was sitting there thinking... this is not my way of building a team," Klopp said.
He added that he did not like the management's plans to bring back some former players.
"I didn't want to bring back Paul Pogba! These things don't work! I didn't want to bring back Cristiano Ronaldo; that wouldn't help! Their idea was to bring in the best players, but without ever talking about football itself."
According to Klopp, the decision to reject United was made even easier when Liverpool offered him a "pure footballing" project.
“Then came a real football project: Liverpool FC,” he concluded.
In the same interview, the Liverpool coach also spoke about Florian Wirtz, Liverpool's summer acquisition from Bayer Leverkusen.
Although the German midfielder still has no goals or assists in his first 10 Premier League games, Klopp strongly defended the player.
"You will eat your words if you speak badly about Florian Wirtz. He is an extraordinary talent," Klopp stressed.
Wirtz is struggling to adapt to the fast pace of the English Premier League, but the German coach believes it is only a matter of time before he breaks through in a Liverpool shirt.