Tears, trophies and transfers - How Jürgen Klopp dealt with big name departures and what it means for Liverpool
What Klopp's reaction is remains to be seen but Klopp has been here before
The saga is over, finally.
Philippe Coutinho is gone, his move to Barcelona done and dusted, the Spaniards' lengthy and at-times brazen pursuit complete.
Liverpool bank a fair chunk of money - £105m up front, more to come via add-ons – but now have the unenviable task of replacing the Brazilian. It won't be easy.
Speaking on Saturday, Reds boss Jürgen Klopp Klopp told fans the club had done “everything within our means” to keep the 25-year-old at Anfield, but that Coutinho had been “insistent” that the move happened immediately.
In a lengthy statement posted on the club's official website, Klopp also insisted that Liverpool would “absorb” the loss of their star man.
“Players will come and players will go, that is football,” he said. “But as a club we are big enough and strong enough to continue with our aggressive progression on the pitch, even when we lose an important player.
“We have never been in a better position in recent times, as a club, to react in the right way.”
What that reaction will be remains to be seen, of course, but Klopp has been here before. His latter years at Borussia Dortmund were marked by significant player departures.
Here's how he handled them...
Nuri Sahin - 2011
What happened?
Sahin was one of the key figures of Klopp's first Bundesliga title win in 2011.
But soon after that success, the Turkish international was approached by Real Madrid and made the decision to leave Dortmund.
Speaking last summer, Sahin revealed the conversation he had with Klopp ahead of that move.
"Nuri, it is your choice," he told me. "But if you leave, you must know, I will always be on your side. You are my friend forever."
Sahin completed his move to the Bernabeu in May 2011.
How did Klopp react?
Pretty well. Having showed his human side during his conversation with Sahin, Klopp and Dortmund displayed their eye for a player that summer.
Ilkay Gundogan was the man they chose to replace him. At the time he was a 20-year-old playing with Nuremberg in the German Second Division. He would swiftly establish himself as a mainstay at Dortmund, playing a big role as they defended their Bundesliga title in 2011/12, adding the German Cup for good measure.
And how did the player get on after leaving?
Sahin's move to Spain didn't work out. He spent just one season at Real, making 10 appearances. In August 2012 he was snapped up on loan by Liverpool, but that deal was cut short in January 2013 after a dozen outings and three goals.
He returned to Dortmund, initially on an 18-month loan. That move was made permanent in 2014, though he has not regained anything like his best form since.
Shinji Kagawa - 2012
What happened?
Another key figure of Klopp's golden era at Dortmund, Japan international Kagawa was instrumental in their back-to-back Bundesliga successes of 2011 and 2012.
But like Sahin before him, the lure of one of Europe's big boys proved too great. He'd cost just €350,000 when signing from Cerezo Osaka, but Manchester United paid £12m to take him to the Premier League.
“Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world and he now plays 20 minutes at Manchester United – on the left wing,” moaned Klopp a year into Kagawa's Old Trafford career.
“My heart breaks. Really, I have tears in my eyes. Central midfield is Shinji’s best role. He’s an offensive midfielder with one of the best noses for goal I ever saw.
“But for most Japanese people it means more to play for Man United than Dortmund. We cried for 20 minutes, in each other’s arms, when he left.”
How did Klopp react?
Well, after the tears subsided, he did pretty well! He picked up a young, talented attacker from Borussia Monchengladbach called Marco Reus, and guided Dortmund to the final of the Champions League in 2013.
They lost unfortunately to Bayern – arguably the beginning of the end for Klopp at Signal Iduna Park – and finished second to the Bavarians in the Bundesliga. Reus, though, would become one of Europe's stars.
And how did the player get on after leaving?
Like Sahin, his big move didn't work out as planned. Kagawa did win a Premier League medal in his first season at United, but struggled to find the kind of form he had shown at Dortmund.
His second season at Old Trafford saw him fail to score in 30 appearances, and he returned to Germany on deadline day in August 2014.
Since then, he's made a further 133 appearances for Dortmund, scoring 29 times and winning a German Cup in 2017.
Mario Gotze - 2013
What happened?
A day after Dortmund's epic Champions League quarter final win over Malaga, Jürgen Klopp was brought crashing back down to earth.
“I had one day of happiness,” he would later reflect. “And then somebody thought ‘enough, go back down on the floor.’”
The reason? Mario Gotze.
Klopp, still riding the emotions of the previous night’s triumph, had arrived at Dortmund’s Brackel training ground the following morning to be greeted by Michael Zorc, his sporting director.
“He looked like someone had died,” he recalled. “He said....I have to tell you something.”
The news was a dagger blow. Gotze, Dortmund’s bright young thing and the home-grown beacon of an emerging force, was leaving. For Bayern Munich.
The Bavarians had activated a €37m release clause in Gotze’s contract. He would move to Munich that summer, having been at Dortmund since the age of eight. It was, Klopp, said “like a heart attack.” He would later compare Bayern to a James Bond villain.
“Michael asked if I wanted to talk and I said: ‘No, I have to go',” he added. “That evening my wife was waiting because there’s a very good German actor, and a good friend, Wotan Wilke Möhring, in a new film in Essen and we were invited to the premiere.
“But I walked in and told her: ‘No chance. I cannot speak. It’s not possible to take me out tonight.’ There were all these calls from the club – we should meet in a restaurant and speak. I said: ‘No, I have to be on my own.’ Tomorrow I’ll be back in the race – but not tonight.
How did Klopp react?
Well, he missed the premiere for starters. And he revealed he had spoken to “six or seven” Dortmund players who were “damaged in the heart.”
“They thought they were not good enough,” he said. “And they wanted to win together. That’s the reason it hurt them so much. But Bayern told Mario: ‘It’s now or never.’”
Klopp's replacement was signed at Liverpool's expense, Henrikh Mkhitaryan costing around €25m. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was also picked up that summer at a cost of €13m, with defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos also signed.
All three would go on to become big players, though Dortmund would finish 19 points adrift of Pep Guardiola's Bayern, and would lose to Real Madrid in the quarter finals of the Champions League.
And how did the player get on after leaving?
Mixed, to say the least. Gotze's first season at Bayern brought a Bundesliga title and 15 goals, and ended with him scoring the winner in the biggest game of all – the World Cup final.
He scored on his first return to Signal Iduna Park with Bayern, but his later years at the Allianz Arena were plagued by injury and loss of form. He missed a penalty against Dortmund during a shootout defeat in the German Cup semi finals in April 2015, and his final season in Bavaria brought just 21 appearances.
He returned to Dortmund in 2016, having been courted by Klopp and Liverpool. In early March 2017, however, it was revealed he had been suffering from a metabolic disorder. It was later found out to be myopathy, a muscular disorder which affects the fibres in the muscles meaning they do not function correctly.
He returned to action a few months later, and has made 15 appearances so far this season.
Robert Lewandowski - 2014
What happened?
Another of Dortmund's best signings under Klopp, the striker scored 103 goals in 187 appearances but by 2013 was being openly courted by Bayern Munich.
Lewandowski pushed for a move following the Champions League final at Wembley, but was denied the move. In November 2013 he confirmed that he would sign a pre-contract agreement with Bayern, moving on a free transfer at the end of that season.
His final season at Dortmund brought 28 goals in 48 appearances. His final game for Dortmund was the 2014 German Cup final – a defeat against Bayern.
How did Klopp react?
He spent money. Italy international Ciro Immobile was the man Dortmund went for, paying a sizeable fee to take the striker from Torino.
Adrian Ramos, Shinji Kagawa, Nuri Sahin and Mattias Ginter were also brought in as Klopp attempted to keep pace with Bayern. They were unable to do so, Dortmund finishing seventh in the Bundesliga having been bottom at the halfway stage. They were also beaten in the final of the German Cup by Wolfsburg and exited the Champions League at the last 16 stage to Juventus.
Immobile managed just three Bundesliga goals and Ramos two, although Aubameyang emerged as the like-for-like replacement for Lewandowski with 23 in all competitions.
As for Klopp, this would prove to be his final campaign as Dortmund boss. He announced his departure at an emotional press conference in April 2015.
And how did the player get on after leaving?
He's become arguably the world's best No.9. His record at Bayern is absurd – 131 goals in 173 games – and he has won three successive Bundesliga crowns.
With Poland, he was also the top scorer in qualifying for both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, his international record standing at 51 goals in 91 caps.
The gaffer has been here before and dealt with it, this is not his first trip around the block in these matters....Players come and players go but he knows what he's doing.
