Not Liverpool Star Mo Salah, Jurgen Klopp Names Greatest Player He Has Coached

Liverpool FC boss Jurgen Klopp revealed the greatest player he has coached so far and he was not one of his Premier League champions.

Despite having these world-class players at Liverpool, Klopp chose Robert Lewandowski, the German forward he had coached at Borussia Dortmund, as the greatest he has coached.

In a recent interview, Klopp was asked to name the greatest player he has ever coached and the Liverpool boss was quoted by Sports Bible, as replying," Robert Lewandowski. It actually won’t be fair to say that about any other player except Lewy. What he has made out of his potential, how he pushed himself to become the player he is today, that’s extraordinary. If every player has a development similar to Lewandowski, when I first saw him at Lech Poznan, then the football world would be completely crazy."

Klopp, who was appointed as Liverpool’s head coach in October 2015, has turned the club around remarkably. Under his leadership, there has been the making of so many stars. The "Egyptian King" Mo Salah is considered to be the first superstar of the Klopp-era at Anfield. He played a massive role in Liverpool’s Premier League win last season, which was the club’s first league trophy in 30 years. Klopp signed Salah in the summer of 2017 from Roma and ever since then, the forward has top-scored for the club in every season.

Even in the ongoing campaign, Salah is the leading goal scorer among the Liverpool players, having netted 25 goals, across all competitions, ahead of second-placed Sadio Mane (12 goals) and Diogo Jota (10 goals).

At the 2019 Ballon d’Or award, which was won by Lionel Messi, as many as three Liverpool players finished in the top five. Center-back Virgil van Dijk lost to the Barcelona skipper by just even points, while Salah and Sadio Mane claimed the fourth and fifth spots.

Klopp managed Dortmund from 2008 to 2015. Lewandowski moved from the Polish club Lech Poznań to Dortmund in the summer of 2010 and played until Klopp for four seasons, winning two league titles and finishing as runners-up in the 2012-13 Champions League.

"All players would win all their duels, The full-backs would complete all their crosses. The midfielders would be strong in one against ones. The wingers would tackle and play precise long balls. Lewandowski made every step he had to make to become the goal machine he is today. He knows exactly what to do in every situation. He’s an absolute machine. I would like to thank him and all the other players who made it look as if I’m a very good coach," added Klopp in the same interview.

Ahead of the 2014-15 campaign, which was Klopp’s final season at Dortmund, Lewandowski had moved to their Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich.

While Lewandowski has entered his seventh season at the Allianz Arena side, he has not lost his touch. The 32-year-old Polish forward had an insane run last season, where he had finished with 55 competitive goals in 47 games. Even in the current 2020-21 campaign, Lewandowski has already netted 39 goals in 35 matches, across competitions.