Jurgen Klopp has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson has forgiven him for choosing Liverpool over Manchester United – and he’s still in the Scottish legend’s inner circle.
Ferguson sounded out Klopp to succeed him before he retired in 2013 but the German stayed in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund.
United are said to have had another attempt at poaching Klopp with Ed Woodward trying to tempt him to Old Trafford before he joined Liverpool.
Both attempts failed – but Klopp still speaks with Ferguson even though in today’s table-topping clash at Anfield they’ll be enemies.
Says Klopp: “I have never thought how it would have been in Manchester. Not once. Not one second.
“I am completely fine here. I am in the right place and it’s all good. Even the weather is better in Liverpool than in Manchester.
(Image: PA)
“I think Sir Alex has forgiven me. We have contact. He texts me. Sir Alex changes his telephone number quite frequently and I always get the new version.
“So that’s a big honour. He texts me to say ‘this is my new number’ and I always think ‘wow.’
“I have a really good relationship with Sir Alex, but on Sunday he wants Manchester United to win and I want Liverpool to win.”
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
Leaders United go into battle three points ahead of Klopp’s champions – with the Kop boss insisting he prefers to be the hunter than out in front.
“Both are pressure, because you either want to have something you don’t have in the moment or if you’re top you want a bigger lead or a bigger gap.
“There is pressure on both. I find it easier to be the hunter, the chaser, the challenger if you want, but maybe that’s because I wasn’t in the other situation as often in my life.
“We will see. My players obviously deal with both situations pretty well so far and that is absolutely fine.’
And Klopp’s admitted United’s counter-attacking firepower will shape the way Liverpool play with his champions without a win in their last three Premier League games in which they’ve only scored once.
“It’s not about ‘Boys, you have to create more chances’. That doesn’t really help because that’s obvious.
“It is about doing the right stuff. That is my job and that is what I do. That means the full package. For example, how should we defend United.
“We can’t just get wild in front of their goal and put all of the boys in their box because that would cause us problems. It still needs to be balanced but, again, my trust in these boys is massive.”
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