Kevin-Prince Boateng reveals how Jurgen Klopp defended him at Dortmund when no one else would

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·6 Oktober 2023

Kevin-Prince Boateng reveals how Jurgen Klopp defended him at Dortmund when no one else would

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Kevin-Prince Boateng is one of those unfortunate footballers who will always be remembered for having incredible potential but could never quite make it to the peaks his talent once promised. And his latest tale about Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp proves how the German recognised just how special the midfielder could be, even when many others didn't.

Boateng started out his career at Hertha Berlin before joining Tottenham Hotspur in England. He arrived in 2007 but never really settled and was loaned out to Borussia Dortmund just 18 months later in January 2009. This was where he formed a great relationship with Klopp, who was just starting to emerge as a brilliant young coach with the Bundesliga outfit.

Interestingly enough, the former Ghana international only ever played 11 games for Dortmund before returning to Spurs as they couldn't afford to make his loan move permanent. He later went on to play for the likes of Portsmouth, AC Milan, Eintracht Frankfurt, Barcelona and many other clubs, but it seems as though Klopp was the one manager who left a huge impression on Boateng despite their relatively brief time spent working together.

Speaking recently on the Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE podcast, the 36-year-old told a number of stories – including one on Lionel Messi asking him about Cristiano Ronaldo – but also opened up on the current Liverpool boss. He began by explaining how Klopp stood by him when so many questioned Dortmund's decision to loan him, saying:

"It was announced that I was coming to Dortmund and they criticised the club, it was unbelievable. 'Why are you bringing that guy in? he's crazy. Did you see what he was doing at Tottenham?' So Klopp stood up at the press conference and said: 'I brought him here and I will make him the player he is'. He said: 'Prince Boateng has a book of 1000 pages, and each page is different. That's how good he is.' "That was like his announcement. I was like: 'Wow, I will give my life for this guy'. Every player will die for him on the pitch because he gives you that confidence and that feeling of love as well. Like whatever you do, if you make a mistake he's going to be there. "I needed that guy who believed in after Martin Jol and Juande Ramos [at Spurs]. No one believed in me. And I didn't believe in myself, I just gave up. I put on like six or seven pounds. I didn't care."

What did Boateng say about Klopp?

In the end, it seems that Boateng was perhaps a little too motivated to impress Klopp, evidently nearly willing to kill for him as he picked up a four-game suspension after an awful flying kick to the head of VfL Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe. The former Barcelona man elaborated on that particular challenge and how Klopp still defended him in the aftermath, saying:

"Then things didn't work out because I made some bad tackles. And in Germany, I had not the best name because people said I'm crazy. I had two or three tackles... the last game played for them, I kicked someone [Hasebe] in the face. He was my teammate afterwards at [Eintracht] Frankfurt and he still had the scar like Harry Potter. And he still protected me, Klopp. But you could see already how powerful Klopp was and he loved me and he invited me to his house – but I never went because then in the dressing room, it's a bit tricky [with teammates]."

Why did Boateng leave Borussia Dortmund?

Boateng also talked about getting drunk with Klopp's son and how that didn't turn out well. Even despite all his antics, the German still genuinely seemed upset that he couldn't spend more time with the midfielder, to truly get the best out of him. Boateng explained how he was crying with his former coach when he realised he wouldn't be able to stay at Dortmund, saying:

"I went drinking with his son one time. The next morning, he came to me and said: 'What did you do to my son?' I said: 'He wanted to drink like a big man...' He said: 'This guy, he slept in the toilet'. So he was like a very important figure in my career. It didn't work out. He called me personally and said: 'We can't buy you, we don't have the money'. Both of us cried on the phone. Like really cried. He said, 'I want to stay with you'. And I said, 'I want to say'. It was like that, back and forth – we had a very good relationship."