"I was also interested in him" - Jurgen Klopp says he was 'angry' after Liverpool missed out on attacker to European giants
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp recently revealed that he was angry about the Reds missing out on signing Dusan Tadic.
Tadic had a stint in the Premier League with Southampton. He scored 24 goals and provided 35 assists in 162 games for the English club.
The Serbian made a move to Ajax in 2018 for a fee of €12.3 million and has since scored 94 goals and provided 98 assists in 209 games for the Dutch club.
While speaking to the media ahead of his team's UEFA Champions League clash against Ajax, Klopp told RTL (via football365.com):
“I love him [Tadic] as a player. I was very angry with myself when he went to Ajax, because I was also interested in him."
Tadic admitted back in 2019 that he made the move to Ajax because he was looking to play in a less physical league than the Premier League.
He said:
"I had a lot of offers. There were a lot of teams who offered money, a lot of teams from the Premier League and offers from other countries like Italy. My heart is close to Holland. I like Holland and Ajax was always my dream club.
"In Holland, and in other countries, you are protected [by referees]. If they touch you a little bit, it’s a foul. We [Southampton] were getting worse and worse. We sold a lot of players and, after that, it was difficult. When you are there when it was the best, and after when it’s not so good, you feel a little bit like you need to go.”
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk demands consistency from is teammates
The Reds headed into their UEFA Champions League clash against Ajax with nine points from four group games. A draw against the Eredivisie outfit will hand them a ticket to the knockout stages of the competition.
However, Liverpool have been very inconsistent in recent times. While they have managed impressive wins against Manchester City and West Ham United, Klopp's side succumbed to a defeat in their last clash against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Speaking to the media ahead of the game against Ajax, Van Dijk said:
"It was a very, very intense, difficult week, six days actually. A fantastic win against City, a difficult (1-0 home) win against West Ham (last Wednesday), and then an away game, early kick-off, against Forest. We tried everything. We know that our performance in general has to be as consistent like how it always was, and that’s what we try to do."
At the time of writing, Liverpool are leading 1-0 against Ajax courtesy of Mohamed Salah's strike in the 42nd minute.