Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has snubbed the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk to name the best player he’s ever coached.
To be fair, it’s hard to argue with his choice – Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, whom he worked with to great success at Borussia Dortmund.
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Klopp has worked with so many top players down the years, and many Liverpool fans might argue that Salah is the stand-out talent who should really be up there.
The Egypt international has been one of the world’s best players in recent years, playing a starring role in Liverpool’s Premier League and Champions League successes.
However, Lewandowski is on another level at the moment and has consistently been an absolute goal machine for much of the last decade or so.
The Poland international first burst onto the scene under Klopp at Dortmund, and he’s now well on his way to going down as one of the finest of his generation.
When asked by Sport Bild, as translated by the Liverpool Echo, to name the best player he’s managed, Klopp said: “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.”
He added: “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 like as if I’m a very good coach.”
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