Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: Why I turned down Man Utd offer

Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he turned down the chance to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

The 48-year-old is preparing his Liverpool players to face the Red Devils at Anfield on Sunday afternoon in the German’s first experience of the north-west derby.

However, Klopp could have been sitting in Louis van Gaal’s seat if Ferguson had his way after the legendary Scot approached the then Borussia Dortmund manager about becoming his successor in April 2013.

The former Mainz defender turned down Ferguson, though, as he wasn’t prepared to leave Dortmund, with Klopp already preparing for the 2013/14 season.

“We spoke,” Klopp is quoted as saying by Daily Mail.

“We spoke not a lot but, for me, it was a lot. It was a big honour, the whole talk, to be honest. But I could not leave Dortmund.

“You are in April and you are in the middle of the planning for next season. You have this player and this player who are coming but then you are not there anymore? That doesn’t work. Not in my life.”

Klopp was named as Brendan Rodgers’s replacement at Anfield in October after the Merseyside derby.

MORE: The latest Man Utd news and views

MORE: The latest Man Utd player tweets

Ferguson has already expressed his concern as a United supporters about Klopp’s potential impact at the Reds.

MORE: The latest Liverpool news and views

MORE: The latest Liverpool player tweets

Liverpool are in ninth place and three points behind United ahead of Sunday’s clash at Anfield.