Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp may have known about Yan Diomande’s preference to join Paris Saint-Germain over the Reds before the rest of the world.
As Red Bull’s current Head of Global Football, Klopp has a personal relationship with Diomande and is plugged into the inner workings of RB Leipzig.
We will likely never know what Klopp really thinks of the Ivorian’s decision to target trophies over a place in a starting XI being rebuilt, but when speaking about potential transfer targets turning Liverpool down ahead of his first summer window in 2016, the German made it clear that he wanted players to ‘push the train’, rather than ‘jump on a running train.’
Who should Liverpool’s new top target be after being rejected by Yan Diomande?
This is a BIG blow to the Reds' summer plans 😓
Klopp did not want uninterested players
Back in April 2016, Liverpool were in a very different place than they currently are, but it is true to say that both versions of the club were in a rebuilding phase.
For Klopp, the work needed was much bigger, with the task of improving the team made more difficult by a likely absence from the 2016/17 Champions League.
Addressing that ahead of the summer window, Klopp bullishly claimed that he had no interest in any player who did not want to join the club based on their lack of European football at the highest level.
“Obviously not 100% but maybe 80% we are not in the Champions League next year so, if I would speak to a player now and he would tell me: ‘If you were playing in the Champions League next year then I would be really interested,’ I would put the phone down from my side,” Klopp said.
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“I always tell players if, when you are 35 or 36, you look back on your career and think about the one year you didn’t play Champions League, then you are really a poor boy.
“There are so many things you can do and reach if you go together with the team. You can qualify for the Champions League, play Champions League, maybe win it or whatever. That is a much more satisfying thing than all the rest. That is what I would say to players: ‘It is about pushing the train, not jumping on a running train.’ That is what we need here.
“If somebody says: ‘But you don’t play Champions League next year’, then goodbye and thank you, have fun next year wherever you will be. We will find players or we have players already that will go our way. That is not my way, that is the normal way for a club not playing in the Champions League.”
Liverpool fans should remember Klopp’s words
Klopp’s comments are not completely translatable to Liverpool’s current situation with Diomande, but the fact is that the Reds have still been turned down because of sporting aspirations.
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As they wring their hands over where Liverpool go next, supporters should remember Klopp’s words, which were strengthened by the fact that the Reds did in fact go on to win the Champions League three years later.
The likes of Sadio Mane, Joel Matip and Gini Wijnaldum, all of whom joined that same summer to ‘push the train,’ started that final win over Tottenham, and also won the Premier League with Liverpool the following year.
There is no guarantee that Liverpool will be able to bounce back in similar fashion under Andoni Iraola, but signing players who are desperate to bring success to Anfield again is a good place to start.
Clearly, Liverpool would have preferred if Diomande had been of that mindset, but they should not lose sleep over the fact that he has proven not to be.
Instead, they have to switch focus, and make sure that whoever they go for next is not looking for a train to hop on and coast along, but one to really get behind and generate speed for themselves.
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