Borussia Dortmund marketing director Carsten Cramer has revealed Jurgen Klopp once rejected an opportunity to sign an unnamed striker due to his selfish celebration, while he was at the Signal Iduna Park.
The German coach left the Bundesliga outfit at the end of the last season and took charge at Liverpool after the Reds showed Brendan Rodgers the exit door last October. During Klopp’s time at Dortmund, he helped his side become successful as they won the league twice and even reached the Champions League final, eventually losing to Bayern Munich at Wembley.
Cramer said that Klopp had watched the striker on numerous occasions, but turned down the opportunity to bring him to his former club, Dortmund as he felt the player failed to celebrate his goal with his teammates.
“There is a story Jurgen told me about a striker he was interested in. He watched him in several videos and said: ‘This is a striker I want to sign.’,” Cramer told the Mirror.
“Then he saw him playing and he scored a goal. He was watching how he was celebrating his goal and said: ‘This is not a guy for Dortmund. He is celebrating for himself and not the club.’
“All the players know the club is the most important thing. I’m very sure that the brand philosophy was important when we hired someone like Jurgen Klopp.”
This could come as a shock to few football fans, but Klopp’s idea of togetherness was one of the key reasons for his success at Dortmund. He could be doing the same at Liverpool and get them play as a unit, which could help the Reds to move forward in the right direction under his guidance.
Christian Benteke has struggled since Klopp was appointed as Liverpool’s manager. The Belgium international sometimes appears to be selfish and that could be one of the reasons why the former Aston Villa star has not been a regular inclusion in the starting lineup this season.
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