'Jurgen Klopp called me to sign for Liverpool but one player stopped transfer dream happening'
Jurgen Klopp could have signed a German striker in 2019 had it not been for Divock Origi.
The German was after a suitable back-up for his then front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane as he prepared to wave goodbye to the Belgian striker that summer, along with Daniel Sturridge and Danny Ings.
Yet Origi's 87th-minute goal in the 2018-19 Champions League final to clinch a 2-0 victory for Liverpool against Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur changed everything. Not only did it persuade Klopp to keep him at the club, it also earned Origi a new contract too.
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But this meant the end of an Anfield dream for Max Kruse, who was plying his trade for Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen at the time. The former German international has now revealed that he even spoke to Klopp personally over a move to Merseyside just a few months before Origi changed his life.
Speaking on the Flatterball podcast, which he runs alongside fellow former Werder Bremen striker Martin Harnik, Kruse has revealed how very different things could have been for him had Origi not scored that Champions League final goal.
As per Deichstube, he said: “In February or March 2019 I got a phone call from Jürgen Klopp. It’s the truth! He said he was interested because they wanted to give up two strikers and wanted me as a backup for Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino.
“When you get that call, there’s no way for you to say, ‘I’m deciding today to extend my contract’ when you have even the small percentage of opportunity to play for Liverpool. As a footballer, when you hear that name, everything turns off.
“I played poker back then. And it didn’t work. In the end it became Fenerbahçe Istanbul. Back then, Liverpool was delayed until the Champions League final. After that, they wanted to keep the transfer candidate Divock Origi. I sent Klopp a photo with my shisha from vacation. And then the topic was over.”
By the time Origi scored against Tottenham at the Wanda Metropolitano, Kruse had just notched 12 goals and 14 assists (Transfermarkt) for Werder Bremen in the 2018-19 season, becoming one of the standout performers in the Bundesliga.
But once his proposed move to Liverpool fell through, he would instead move onto Turkish giants Fenerbahce, grabbing seven goals and eight assists in 23 league appearances before returning to Germany a year later with Union Berlin.
Whilst in the German capital, he continued his fine goalscoring form with 11 goals in the 2020-21 campaign, helping Union Berlin qualify for its first European football since the 2001–02 season with a place in the Europa Conference League.
He then scored eight goals in the first half of the 2021-22 campaign, before jumping ship to Wolfsburg in the January transfer window and finding the back of the net on another seven occasions. In November 2022, he terminated his contract, before history would repeat itself 12 months later with SC Paderborn.
In December 2023, Kruse announced his retirement from playing at the age of 35 and is now flourishing as a professional poker player, having won almost $367,000 (£281,000/€333,000) in all poker tournaments as of the start of the 2024 World Series of Poker.