Jurgen Klopp has been a revelation in England since joining Liverpool in 2015.
The German manager has transformed Liverpool from a team challenging for Europa League places to a team challenging for the quadruple all whilst battling FSG’s tight financial restraints.
His effect cannot be downplayed and a big part of his success has been his ability to sign players with great potential, ability and mentalities for lower fees.
This has been the same over the course of his career and it has since seen him rank as the 10th highest spending manager of all time.
Did you know only two managers/coaches have spent over a billion Euros in their careers, Pep Guardiola & Jose Mourinho. pic.twitter.com/5S7ndoeQMk
— Frank Khalid OBE (@FrankKhalidUK) July 28, 2022
Transfer magic at Liverpool
The signings of players such as Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino at the time were considered left-field signings. These weren’t big-name players who had achieved major success; they were players who had impressed and shown quality but were little known at the time.
Klopp’s ability to identify potential talents and to coach and improve them over time has been the key to Liverpool’s success.
When he has spent big, it’s always been for a top player such as Alisson and Virgil van Dijk. He has recently spent big on Darwin Nunez so we will see how that transfer develops over time.
We wrote about FSG’s lack of financial support through Klopp’s tenure at Liverpool and the success he’s had compared to money given means he should be afforded more investment.
Dortmund days
Having managed Dortmund from 2008-2015, he too saw great success in the league against a thriving Bayern Munich team and nearly won a historic Champions League against the same opposition in 2013.
Of course, his success was too built on great talent identification and shrewd business; for example, signing Mats Hummels and Sven Bender as 20-year-olds who went on to be big players for the club for a combined fee of £4m in 2009.
Other notable signings include Shinji Kagawa and Lukasz Piszczek on free transfers. But the signing of Robert Lewandowski in 2010 for £4m as a 21-year-old may be one of the standout signings in his career. The forward went on to score 103 in 187 games.
However, the German is responsible for bringing Marco Reus to the club for £15m back in 2012. He has gone on to captain the side and score 153 goals as well as provided 114 assists becoming a club legend.
These examples prove how well Klopp has done to compete and beat the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho who have always been afforded money from their clubs.
Klopp has built sides with lesser-known players and financial restrictions and brought success to all the clubs he’s managed in his career making him a true managerial modern great.
