Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp‘s time at Borussia Dortmund was marked by a rollercoaster of emotions for the German. He inherited a squad that finished 15th in the season before his appointment. In four years, he made Dortmund a team to be feared all over Europe, reaching the finals of the Champions League in 2012. Moreover, Jurgen Klopp also won back-to-back Bundesliga titles with Dortmund as well. Jurgen Klopp converted this team that always underperformed into a team that almost won the Champions League. He nurtured many players into superstars during his time in Dortmund. The superstars of Borussia Dortmund took the club to the peaks of glory multiple times during his tenure in Dortmund from 2008 to 2015
The European glory attracted the big clubs to sit up and take notice of the superstars that Klopp had developed in the Borussia Dortmund team. Consequently, the top clubs in Europe tried to lure the players away from Dortmund to their clubs. The first high-profile exit was Nuri Sahin, who was sold to Real Madrid for โฌ10m in 2011. Shinji Kagawa departed Dortmund to play for Manchester United for a ยฃ17m transfer. Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski also departed Dortmund to play for rivals Bayern Munich. Gotze’s departure was the last straw for Jurgen Klopp. The transfer of his superstar players undermined Jurgen Klopp’s efforts to make a footballing empire at Dortmund. He left Dortmund to take a sabbatical from football for a year. The reason was the sale of every up-and-coming player that he had hoped to keep in his squad.
The sale of Jude Bellingham by Dortmund will reopen the old wounds of Jurgen Klopp
Dortmund have managed to make their stay at the top four a permanent fixture since the departure of Jurgen Klopp. They have scouted and made superstars out of many young players. Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho, Ikay Gundogan, and Mat Hummels are some of the famous names developed by Dortmund. Now, they have a prolific youngster with them in the form of Jude Bellingham. The defensive midfielder is a star in the making who is wanted by many clubs across Europe. Liverpool(Klopp too) are touted as the prime candidate wanting to sign the youngster. However, this means Klopp buying into the trend of big clubs poaching young stars from relatively smaller clubs. If Liverpool are successful in signing Bellingham, it will be one of their biggest moves yet. What irked Klopp during his term as a manager, will see him benefit now that he is a rival manager.
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