Liverpool star who quit Reds because of Jurgen Klopp is now a manager is now jobless
A former Turkish international once cut his Liverpool loan spell short because of a love for Jurgen Klopp, and has since become a manager himself
Before the charismatic German left the yellow of Dortmund for the red of Merseyside, he was enticing players away from his future club.
Nuri Sahin joined Liverpool on loan from Real Madrid in 2012, and was an instant hit. Three goals and three assists in his first 12 matches must have had Reds fans licking their lips.
But Liverpool’s current manager, the one that delivered them their first Premier League title and sixth Champions League trophy, snatched him away.
But Liverpool’s current manager, the one that delivered them their first Premier League title and sixth Champions League trophy, snatched him away.
It was Klopp’s German giants Borussia Dortmund that Sahin left to join Madrid in the first place, and he clearly couldn’t resist a homecoming. Speaking to the Express in 2018, the Turkish midfielder outlined his reasons for leaving.
He said: “At Liverpool, I started the season very well, but I just couldn’t resist the prospect of working with Jurgen Klopp again, so I decided to leave.
“If Dortmund didn’t make an offer for me, then I would have stayed at Liverpool for many more years, but the idea of competing in the Champions League was very tempting.”
Sahin’s admiration for Klopp has also clearly inspired him to take the helm of a club, as he has since gone on to manage Turkish side Antalyaspor.
The beginning of his coaching career came in the form of local club RSV Meinerzhagen, Sahin’s boyhood club. In 2015, he became the assistant coach of the fifth-tier German side, with his brother, Ufuk, playing for the outfit at the same time.
In 2018 he was also accepted onto Harvard’s sports management program, disproving the theory that footballers are thick, and said at the time that he had big plans after football.
He said: “I have big plans after football. To give back and to give my children something to be proud of, not just to talk about how I used to be a football player.”
This step didn’t mark the end of Sahin’s playing career though, as he continued to play for Dortmund and Werder Bremen before moving bidding a farewell and heading to Turkey.
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