Jurgen Klopp reveals the Arsenal player he has ‘always followed’

While Gabriel Martinelli is a name that has been linked with Liverpool in the past, another Arsenal star has always had Jurgen Klopp’s eye.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is a player that Jurgen Klopp has always kept a close eye on.

The Liverpool manager tried to sign Odegaard repeatedly for Borussia Dortmund before he joined Real Madrid at 16 in 2015 and afterward, but he could never quite a deal over the line.

After a successful loan spell, Odegaard later signed up for Arsenal on a permanent deal in 2021. The 23-year-old is now the captain of both Mikel Arteta’s side and the Norwegian national team.

“I like him a lot, that’s easy at the moment I think,” Klopp told TV2 of Odegaard.

“It was a bit more difficult at the start of his career at Madrid. It didn’t look like it would work out. I was really disappointed about that because we wanted him at Dortmund, we wanted him as well when he was very young, we had a long talk when he was a kid still, with his dad, in the end he decided for Madrid, that’s fine.

“That’s why I’ve followed him always. I’m really happy he’s become the player we all expected him to be, and even better if you want, he has a massive role in an unbelievably strong Arsenal team.

“He’s still young, [has a] clear mind, very influential, cannot say anything negative about him, to be honest. A top player.”

Klopp praises Odegaard’s career turnaround

After failing to make the grade at Real Madrid, Odegaard has turned his career around by becoming a star performer for Premier League leaders Arsenal.

“Very impressive,” Klopp said of Odegaard’s turnaround.

“I’ve seen a lot of talent, massive talents, crazy talents. For Martin, at the time I think he was 15, I think he was playing in the first league in Norway. The whole world went mad.

“Maybe I’m not sure, you’ll have to ask him, but maybe I was too honest that time because I told him he’s still a kid, school, all these kinds of things, fine, but we want to be the environment where he can grow.

“If you compare Dortmund to the city of Madrid, as nice as it is, Madrid… maybe I would’ve made the same decision, but I would’ve loved that time if he joined us.

“But it’s all fine. That’s not important. Until he was 15 probably nothing went against him in his way, from that moment on a lot of things went [against] in his way, it makes you the player you are now, the human being you are now, the man you are now, and I think they are pretty happy with how it went.”