Cape Town - Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has revealed that he attempted to bring Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp back to the BVB in 2018.
Klopp left Dortmund in 2015 after winning two Bundesliga titles, the only two championships in the last ten years that Bayern Munich haven't won.
The 52-year-old led current club Liverpool to Champions League glory, while they are currently eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Despite trying to get Klopp to return, Watzke says he didn’t expect him to accept because of his loyal nature.
"I knew that Jurgen would [decline], that he will fulfill his contract in Liverpool," Watzke wrote in his new book REAL LOVE. A life with BVB (via Sky Sports).
"Jurgen has always fulfilled his contracts, but if you want to go new ways and we had to break new ground at BVB, then at least I had to ask Jurgen if he could possibly imagine that.
"I did not expect that at all, but I would not have forgiven myself for not asking him at that moment."
Watzke added: "The most important thing in our relationship was and is that we can rely on each other blindly.
"Jurgen never lied to me. He is always honest, even in the job. And I never lied to him.
"Even in the most difficult phase, in the season of separation, when we crashed to the last place sometime shortly before the separation in the Bundesliga, that was the case.
"That sounds so obvious when you say that, but I've experienced it in a different way in this business and with other coaches."
- TeamTalk Media