Liverpool legend Jurgen Klopp shared a huge rivalry with Manchester City.
The German was the only manager, before Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta over the last two years, to go toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola’s side for the Premier League title.
City got the better of Liverpool more often than not in the race for the crown. One of the reasons for that is the number of truly outstanding players Guardiola always had at his disposal.
Klopp tried hard to replicate that, so he signed Alexis Mac Allister because he reminded him of one key Manchester City star.
What Jurgen Klopp privately told Alexis Mac Allister to convince him to join Liverpool
Mac Allister was a wanted man in the summer of 2023.
The midfielder had a phenomenal season with Brighton and Hove Albion and also played a key part in helping Argentina win the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
A number of clubs were linked with a move to sign Mac Allister, but it was Liverpool who won the race for his signature in the end.
Klopp, unsurprisingly, played a big part in bringing the Argentine to Anfield, and Mac Allister has now revealed that the old Liverpool boss actually compared him to a Manchester City star – Ilkay Gundogan.
He said on the Rest is Football podcast: “Basically, he said that there was going to be a change in terms of midfielders for the team. He wanted me to be part of it and he compared me with players like Gundogan, for example, that he managed in Dortmund.
“He said that we had similar things and that I could be an important player for Liverpool and for his team. So that was enough to say I need to go there.
“I was in a moment where I won the World Cup just six months ago. I wanted to go to a club where I had the opportunity to win trophies. And I wanted to go to a club where I could feel important, where I could feel that I could have a history there.
“Yeah, that was enough to tell myself that I wanted to play for Liverpool.”
Brighton's Argentinian midfielder Alexis Mac Allister (L) fights for the ball with Manchester City's German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan during the En...
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
Pep Guardiola may have agreed with Klopp on Mac Allister
Gundogan was one of the best midfielders in the Premier League in his first spell at Manchester City.
The German won five Premier League titles in seven years, but at the end of the 2022/23 season, he decided to leave the Etihad and join Barcelona.
Guardiola had to replace him, and Ekrem Konur revealed on X at the time that Manchester City wanted Mac Allister to fill Gundogan’s shoes at the Etihad.
Things didn’t work out for the champions as Liverpool were desperate to land the Argentine and they did everything that was required to bring him to Anfield.
So far, it’s safe to say that Mac Allister has been a really successful signing for the Reds.
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