Klopp regrets not signing Mané at Dortmund

Jürgen Klopp admitted on Thursday that not signing Sadio Mané when he was the head coach of Borussia Dortmund was his biggest transfer regret.

Now the Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull, Klopp apologised to Borussia Dortmund fans for not signing Mané at the 10-year anniversary celebration of Hout Bay United Football Community (HBUFC) in Cape Town. Klopp, a patron of the third-tier South African club which aims to give its members resources to be productive members of the community, said that Kevin de Bruyne was the player he wished he signed most.

A key difference between his regrets over Mané and de Bruyne was that Klopp's attempt to sign de Bruyne at Dortmund was blocked by Chelsea -- then under José Mourinho -- while he has long admitted that failing to sign Mané at Dortmund was down to his own misjudgement.

Mané ironically later had the best years of his career under Klopp at Liverpool, scoring 120 goals in 269 appearances.

"There are a couple of Dortmund supporters here, so I have to apologise for them, because I didn't sign Sadio Mané for Dortmund," Klopp said when asked which player he regretted not signing most.

"I could say I was young and naïve [but] I wasn't that young and naïve. I realised it when he came to Liverpool. I thought: 'That's a lot of money [compared to what Dortmund would have had to spend to sign him initially]."

Mané reportedly cost Liverpool around £34 million plus add-ons in 2016, having moved to Southampton for £11.8 million two years earlier. At the time, Klopp had been unwilling to take a risk on a player he was not absolutely certain about, but Dortmund's disastrous start to the 2014/15 season and Mané's fine form for Southampton showed him the error of his ways quickly.

Klopp cited his failure to sign Son Heung-Min as his other major regret. Son chose to sign for Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 and Mané for Southampton in 2014 as a result of Klopp's failure to pursue them with full force, later becoming Premier League stars for Tottenham and Liverpool respectively.

Former Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has previously claimed that Chelsea's refusal to let de Bruyne go to Dortmund in 2013 was rooted in their frustration at failing to sign Robert Lewandowski, who reportedly drew interest from the likes of the Blues, Real Madrid and Manchester United while starring under Klopp for Dortmund.

The Poland star ultimately chose rivals Bayern Munich in 2014, while Belgian maestro de Bruyne won six of the last seven Premier League titles at the expense of Klopp's Liverpool among others.

Klopp's loss was Pep Guardiola's gain, but Klopp insisted that he was not too hung up over transfer regrets and added that despite their rivalry on the pitch, he does not feel there was animosity between himself and the Manchester City head coach. Klopp said that he always had a sense the pair could have an enjoyable time together outside of football.

Although he admitted he was not as fond of all of his rivals as he was of Guardiola, the German said that he felt the intensity of rivalries based more on who his opponents were coaching than who they were as human beings.

"It's more the managers of specific clubs. I literally love Carlo Ancelotti [but] he became manager of Everton," Klopp said. "I knew it wouldn't last long. It's a bit the same with Man United. There are so many other clubs."

Klopp admitted that he has no desire to return to the dugout as a head coach anytime soon, but while that may be the case, he remains as passionate as ever for bringing people together through football.