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Topics: Football, Jurgen Klopp, Premier League, Liverpool
Ryan Smart
Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Liverpool's owners FSG took four years to U-turn on a decision that he describes as 'the 'dumbest idea I ever heard'.
Klopp has now left Liverpool after a near nine-year spell at the helm at Anfield.
He ended his reign in charge with a 2-0 win over Wolves in the Premier League, bringing the curtain down on a season that saw Liverpool win the Carabao Cup and finish in third place in the English top flight.
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Klopp then bid a farewell to the Reds supporters inside Anfield, performing one final matchday speech in front of a capacity crowd.
On Tuesday evening, Liverpool organised an official farewell event for the German, which was co-hosted by LFCTV's Peter McDonnell and comedian John Bishop.
The night served as a reflection on Klopp's time in charge at the club - with numerous topics throughout his reign brought back up.
One of those was the controversial decision from owners FSG to sell the Melwood training ground to a housing developer in 2019.
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Local residents wanted the club to keep Melwood for community use as they moved to their new AXA Training Centre base, but the decision was taken to sanction a sale for around £10 million.
In 2023, FSG bought Melwood back, with the renovated training facility now used by the women's team, girls' academy and community projects.
Liverpool subsequently went on to finish in fifth place in the 2023/24 Women's Super League - their highest finish since winning the then 14-game division in 2013/14.
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Klopp said (via The Guardian): "Can you imagine LFC as the club with unlimited money? Imagine Kylian Mbappe came here. Imagine Bellingham came here. Haaland.
"It is not us, it's just does not fit. We won what we won, and we did it the Liverpool way. We had hard conversations and other clubs didn't do that in the same time.
"We built two new stands, a new training ground. We bought Melwood back - the dumbest idea I ever heard was that we sold it in the first place."
He continued: "The owners do what owners do. Surprise! The owners want to earn money. Sorry to tell you that. It's not like they earn money on a daily basis: they invest in something and that's how the whole world goes."