Jürgen Klopp reveals he turned down the chance to join Manchester United in 2013 | OneFootball

Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has revealed that he turned down an offer to manage Manchester United in 2013, describing the opportunity as “not my project” after being left unimpressed by what he heard during talks with the club.

Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast, transcribed by Sky Sports, Klopp confirmed that United approached him shortly after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, as the club sought a dynamic successor to continue their era of dominance. At the time, Klopp was in charge of Borussia Dortmund, having led them to two Bundesliga titles and a Champions League final.

“Yes, I spoke to them,” Klopp said. “They tried. But it was the wrong time, the wrong moment. I had a contract at Dortmund and wouldn’t have left for anyone then.”

The 58-year-old explained that his decision was based on a perceived lack of affinity with the type of project Klopp wanted. “The people in that conversation told me things I didn’t like. United was that big, ‘we get all the players we want.’ That was not my project,” he recalled.

Klopp said he preferred building teams rather than assembling superstars. “Bringing back the best players doesn’t usually work,” he said. “It was never about that for me.”

Klopp later joined Liverpool in 2015, where he would go on to lead the Reds to European glory in 2019 before earning them their first league title in 30 years the year after.

GFN | Finn Entwistle