Jurgen Klopp made four enemies as ex-Liverpool stars turned on boss after exit

Jurgen Klopp will leave Liverpool in the summer after eight-and-a-half years in charge.

There won’t be many dry eyes at Anfield when manager Jurgen Klopp bids farewell to Liverpool at the end of the season, with players, fans, and owners all united in their affection for the German boss. And with good reason, as in his eight-and-a-half years at the helm Klopp has helped the Reds land every major trophy going, and he’s not done yet with his side still bang in the Premier League title race and huge favourites to prevail in the Europa League.

But while few members of the current squad are likely to air any public grievances with the 56-year-old, not all those who have represented him in red will have fond memories. Express Sport outlines four player-manager relationships which totally disintegrated after Klopp arrived from Borussia Dortmund in late 2015.

Mario Balotelli

If only scoring one Premier League goal in his maiden season at Liverpool didn’t quite finish off Mario Balotelli’s club career in England, the hiring of Klopp certainly did. The Italian forward was already out on loan at AC Milan when Brendan Rodgers was replaced, and his attempts to return in the summer of 2016 proved futile.

Left out of the pre-season tour of America, the maverick was then allowed to join French club Nice on deadline day.

Balotelli himself later added fuel to the fire by adding: “Klopp does not know me and I do not know him. I was back in Liverpool a month and a half and I spoke to him once. He explained to me that I could stay there but I was not his first choice and he told me it was better if I went somewhere else. If I got games, did well, I could come back but I said goodbye and thank you, and that we wouldn’t be seeing each other again.”

Fair to say letting Balotelli go was probably not a decision that Klopp reflects on with so much as a tinge of regret. If he remembers Balotelli at all that is.

Lazar Markovic

Another Rodgers signing, and another misfiring player already on loan when Klopp walked through the doors. Winger Lazar Markovic returned from Fenerbahce that summer, only to be sent on further temporary spells at Sporting CP, Hull City, and Anderlecht – before finally leaving the club in January 2019 for what proved an ill-fated free transfer to Fulham.