Former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can has revealed that he had a good relationship with Jurgen Klopp.
Can joined Juventus during the summer and has praised Klopp whom he said wished him the best after he finalized the move to Juve. The German midfielder left Anfield after four years and made 100 appearances for Liverpool.
He joined the Turin- based club on a free transfer.
“My relationship with Klopp was always good. He wished me all the best when I told him I was leaving. Not a lot of managers would let you play so many times when you are in the final year of your contract. But I always did my best. I always wanted to help the team. That is what he saw. That is why he kept faith with me.” Can told BBC Sport.
He has also revealed his happiness to be on the same team with Christiano Ronaldo who moved to Turin from Real Madrid in a deal worth €112million.
“It is amazing to play with such a big player, maybe the best player in the world. You only have to see what he did in the last few years and how many goals he scored. It is nice we are going to be on the same team, although the other teams in Italy are not so happy about that.” Can said.
A versatile player, Can has also played as a defensive midfielder, centre back and full back.
He began his senior career at Bayern Munich, playing mostly in the club’s reserve side before transferring to Bayer Leverkusen in 2013. A season later, he was signed by Liverpool for £9.75 million where he made over 150 appearances across all competitions before joining Juventus in 2018.
Can represented Germany from Under-15 to Under-21 level, and featured at the 2015 Under-21 European Championship. He made his senior debut in September 2015 and was selected for the 2016 European Championship. The following year, he was part of the German squad which won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.
Can received call-ups for the German U15, U16 and U17 youth football teams. In 2011, he was a part of U17 team that finished as runners-up at the European Championships. He was also named in the team of the tournament. Later that year, he captained the squad in the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup and led his team to the semi-finals. During the semi-final, he netted a solo goal against Mexico: he received the ball with three markers closing in on him, skipped past one and paced forward before escaping two other opponents and evading the goalkeeper, but Germany were defeated 3–2.
He represented the under-21 team at the 2015 European Championship in the Czech Republic, starting all four matches. In their opening game at the Letná Stadium in Prague, Can scored with a 17th-minute equaliser from the edge of the penalty area in a 1–1 draw against Serbia.[62] In their second group match at the Eden Arena in Prague against Denmark, Can hit a slide-rule pass to assist Kevin Volland’s smart finish in the 32nd minute. In the 47th minute Can was awarded a free-kick, from which Volland doubled the lead thanks to a delightfully weighted free-kick from 25 metres out. Matthias Ginter rounded off the scoring to head in Amin Younes’ cross just five minutes later leading to a 3–0 victory.
On 28 August 2015, Can received his first senior call-up from manager Joachim Löw, ahead of the following month’s UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Poland and Scotland. He made his debut on 4 September in the first game, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–1 win at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt.
On 31 May 2016, Can was named in Germany’s final 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016. His sole appearance in the tournament came in the 2–0 semi-final loss to France, a match that Can started.
On 17 May 2017, Can was named in Germany’s final 23-man squad for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Can made an appearance as a substitute in Germany’s first game, a 3–2 win over Australia. He would appear in all 5 of his team’s matches in the competition as Germany ran out winners in the final against Chile.