Former Borussia Dortmund loanee Kevin Prince-Boateng has opened up on his touching relationship with Jurgen Klopp – revealing the pair cried on the phone when he was unable to make his move permanent back in 2009.
Prince-Boateng signed for Borussia Dortmund in January 2009 after a difficult first 18 months at Tottenham Hotspur under managers Martin Jol and Juande Ramos.
Despite being hit with a suspension for a reckless challenge on VfL Wolfsburg’s Makoto Hasebe toward the end of his loan spell at the Signal Iduna Park, the German-born Ghanian impressed during his ten appearances and helped Dortmund secure a sixth-placed finish in Klopp’s first season at the club.
Recalling his stint at the Black and Yellows, Prince-Boateng opened up on the close bond he built with the now Liverpool manager during their time together and hailed the 56-year-old’s man-management skills.
“When they announced that I come to Dortmund, they [fans] criticised the club, like: ‘Why [are] you bringing that guy? He’s crazy. Did you see what he did in Tottenham?’,” said Prince-Boateng, speaking to Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE podcast. “So Klopp stood up at the press conference and said: ‘I brought him here, I will make him the player he is’. He said Prince Boateng has a book of 1,000 pages and each page is different, that’s how good he is.
“I said I will give my life for him. Every player would die for him on the pitch because he gives you that feeling of confidence, that feeling of love as well. Whatever you do, if you do a mistake, he’s going to be there. I needed that guy who was going to believe in me because after Martin Jol and Juande Ramos, no-one believed in me. I didn’t believe in myself – I just gave up. I had like six, seven pounds [of weight] more. So he gave me that feeling, so I came [there] and performed.
“Then things didn’t work out because I had some bad tackles I made and in Germany, I had not the best name because people said I was crazy. In one of the last games I played for them, I kicked someone in the face, he was my team-mate afterwards in Frankfurt, and he still had the scar…like Harry Potter. He still protected me, Klopp. He was like: ‘yeah, he wanted to show everybody how good he is.'”
Although Prince-Boateng would be unable to sign for Dortmund on a permanent basis due to the strict financial conditions the Bundesliga outfit worked under, instead moving to Portsmouth, the midfielder insists his relationship with Klopp remained as strong as ever.
“You could see already how powerful Klopp was, you know,” he added. “And he loved me, he invited me to his house but I never went because in the dressing room, it can be a bit tricky, you know. 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 slept in the toilet!’
“He was 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. We both cried on the phone. Like really cried. We had a very good relationship.”
