Jurgen Klopp turned down the chance to become the manager of Manchester United in 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

The then Borussia Dortmund coach had been sounded out about the possibility of eventually becoming Ferguson’s successor the month before his retirement was announced but stunned the United hierarchy by informing them that he wanted to stay in Germany to try and knock Bayern Munich off their perch after they had taken back the Bundesliga title from him.

United told Klopp that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with them and, also, that he would not have the resources to challenge Bayern who were reasserting their dominance of the German game. But Klopp said he was committed to Dortmund and the timing was not right for him.

Bayern had announced that January that Pep Guardiola – who United had also sounded out informally during his sabbatical - would be taking over the following season and Klopp wanted to challenge him.

Klopp then signed a contract extension with Dortmund taking him up to 2018 but he quit at the end of the 2014-15 season. He took over at Liverpool that October following the dismissal of Brendan Rodgers and will, of course, be in the home dug out at Anfield for Saturday’s Premier League fixture against United.