Jurgen Klopp confirms he met striker and his agent at airport to discuss transfer

JURGEN KLOPP has confirmed he tried to sign Christian Benteke while he was manager of Borussia Dortmund.

 

Jurgen Klopp (left) met Christian Benteke in an airport to discuss a transfer win 2013

 

The German, 48, was head coach at the Bundesliga club in 2013 when he attempted to poach Belgium star Benteke from Aston Villa.

Klopp revealed he met Benteke and his agent, Eris Kismet, at Dusseldorf airport to discuss a transfer.

 

But the deal never materialised and Benteke secured a £32.5million switch to Anfield two years later.

"I had a lot of meetings with players and not all these players became my players after this for a lot reasons," said Klopp.

"We saw a lot of games (Benteke) played in, keeping the ball, technical skills, of course the header but not only that, finishing skills, all this stuff.

 

"From all those things he is a complete striker but at the end you have to work for it.

"He didn't finish development and we, as a team, didn't. In this situation you have to look how it fits."

Benteke, 25, joined Villa from Belgian side Genk in 2012 and scored 42 Premier League goals for the club before forcing through a move to Liverpool.

He boasts just seven goals for this campaign and was dropped for the Reds' 1-0 defeat against Manchester United on Sunday.