‘Really special’… Jurgen Klopp admits he was so ‘excited’ about one Liverpool player years before he joined

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been in the mood for praising his squad all week long.

As Klopp prepares to leave Liverpool at the end of the season, he appears keen to press home that things aren’t all about him, it’s about the players, too.

Having been so positive about Conor Bradley in particular after the midweek game against Chelsea on Wednesday, Jurgen singled out two more players in his pre-Arsenal press conference today.

Some nice words were spoken about Alexis Mac Allister, while Diogo Jota was in Klopp’s good books as well.

“He [Jota] was in really good shape before he got injured, comes back, looks in good shape,” said the boss. “You can see he is literally flying in the moment. Everything looks light, looks fresh, looks explosive. And on top of that he always was an extremely smart footballer.

“His game understanding is different level and that makes him the player he is for us. I think from the first moment I saw him at Wolves I was absolutely excited about his potential. Can play all three positions for us up front which is really special, especially in the moment when Mo is not here.”

Klopp excited by Jota potential

The first time that Klopp came across Jota up close would have been in the 2018/19 season, after Wolves were promoted to the Premier League.

The Portuguese didn’t play against Liverpool in the first meeting between the two sides that season, which the Reds won 2-0.

As a result, Klopp’s first look at Jota in the flesh would have been the the FA Cup third round tie at Molineux in January 2019.

Jota partnered Raul Jimenez up-front that day and was a menace throughout, setting up the Mexican for the game’s opening goal.

From then on, Klopp’s interest had clearly been piqued. He’d likely have been aware of Jota from his exploits in the Championship the previous season, and formerly with Porto. But Jurgen likes to watch players up close against his teams.

Although he never scored against Liverpool, Jota did always seem to cause them problems. Lively and dangerous, the 27-year-old is a nightmare to play against.

That has been seen in full flow this season, with Jota really stepping things up a notch in Salah’s absence.

With Mo still missing and Darwin Nunez now a doubt for Sunday’s trip to Arsenal, the stage is set for Diogo against his favourite opposition.