Liverpool were consistently linked with a move for Mario Gotze in the transfer windows after Jurgen Klopp arrived on Merseyside, and the player has now revealed how close he came to joining the Reds.
Gotze was once considered one of the best attacking midfielders in world football.
In 2014, he scored the winning goal for Germany in the World Cup final, having sealed a move from Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich the summer before.
The move didn’t quite work out as expected, though, and by 2016 he was looking for a way out.
Liverpool were one of the clubs linked as rumours circulated he would want to reunite with his beloved former coach, Klopp.
In the end, he returned to Dortmund, but not until after he had visited Liverpool to discuss a move.
Writing for The Players’ Tribune, Gotze, who now plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, said: “I also wish I had been a little more patient.
“I’ll give you an example. In 2016, I nearly went to a famous team in England called Liverpool. The coach there was a man named Jürgen 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 Jürgen 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.”
Why Mario Gotze didn’t sign for Liverpool?
As we know, despite his relationship with Klopp, Gotze didn’t sign for Liverpool and instead moved back to Dortmund, where he stayed until 2020.
At the time, Liverpool were about to start their first full season with Klopp in charge, and their Champions League win three years later seemed a distant ambition – the Reds weren’t even back in the competition yet.
The World Cup winner attempted to explain his thinking behind remaining in Germany:
“I also wanted to win things right away. I was so impatient!
“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.”
While Gotze may sometimes ponder his career path had he gone to Liverpool, he doesn’t regret his decision.
“But Dortmund still means a lot to me,” added the 32-year-old.
“Given the same circumstances, I would probably decide the same again. And anyway, I always try to look forward.”
