In an appeal to fans to calm down regarding the expensive purchase of Darwin Nunez, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp cited Robert Lewandowski’s early problems at Borussia Dortmund.
At the beginning of Lewandowski’s time in Germany, Klopp recalls taking money from the Pole each time he failed to score 10 goals during training.
Reds star Nunez has failed to find consistency in the Premier League since his £65million summer switch from Benfica.
The Uruguayan missed several big chances in Liverpool’s 3-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
However, Klopp sees similarities with a young Lewandowski, who moved to Dortmund from Lech Poznan in 2010 and scored just eight times in his first year.
“The Liverpool boss would play the now-Barcelona man out of position and would force the striker to pay him €10 (£8.85) if he failed to score 10 goals in training.
“I was sitting in a press conference and journalists, when I started playing Lewandowski, they asked me why [Lucas] Barrios was not playing. Lucas Barrios had scored 16 goals that season and was the No 9 in our team,” Klopp said on Thursday.
“[We bet]: ‘If you score more than 10 times, I pay you €10; if you don’t, [then you pay me]’,.
“My pocket was full of money!” 😂
👀 Klopp has compared Nunez’s start with that of Lewandowski at Dortmund. https://t.co/gB00ur0tw9
— This Is Anfield (@thisisanfield) December 29, 2022
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“So Lewi started playing in different positions to adapt to different things, didn’t like it too much. The Polish journalists were not too friendly with me because he didn’t play No 9, he played in a 4-2-3-1 at 10.
“I thought at that time it made absolute sense to develop his game. So all different things. There are a lot of similarities to be honest.
“Yes, I think Lewi would tell the same story. We had shooting sessions where he didn’t finish off one.
“We had bets all the time for €10 – if you score more than 10 times I will pay you €10, if you don’t you have to pay me. My pocket was full of money.”
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