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Jurgen Klopp has admitted that signing Darwin Nunez didn't go to plan for Liverpool after he was brought in for a fee of around $115 million (£85 million) from Benfica in 2022.
But the German has also insisted that he had a good relationship with the Uruguayan, even though he was not always particularly close to the striker. On the day of Klopp's last game in charge, Nunez drew some criticism for a muted reception towards the departing Liverpool legend.
"We had an absolutely good relationship," Klopp said on The Diary of a CEO podcast. "As good as can be when a striker is not scoring as often as he wants, as the people want, and as I think he could.
"With a striker who didn't play as often as definitely he wants, how can you have a fantastic relationship?
"I didn't see the picture [from his last game in charge] but I heard about it. If he would be the number one who was jumping after me and crying his eyes out and hugging me for 10 minutes, I would have been asking 'OK, what is going on here?'.
"It is a completely normal situation. My first concern cannot be to please everybody. It is just not possible in that job. The first problem starts with 25 players and 11 starting positions.
"More players are not happy that you make happy. That is where the problem starts. I'm pretty sure he had super moments at Liverpool and we had super moments together.
"On my last day, if I would have been him, I would have thought as well 'OK, the next one is a big chance for me'. Players do that.
"If it goes really well, it is not that they think thanks to the coach. If it doesn't, they think maybe he doesn't bring me on often enough.
"We are humans. We are all the same. Maybe they do more for one week, two weeks, three weeks, but then they think 'He is still not picking me'.
"You cannot always have harmony and flowers. It is a competitive environment and you need to perform to get what you think you deserve."
Klopp has also outlined that his relationship with Michael Edwards and other key figures behind the scenes was always good during his spell on Merseyside.
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It was Julian Ward at the helm when Nunez was signed, but just like every other signing in that period, Nunez was someone that everyone agreed was the right move to make, Klopp said.
"We decided to sign him all together," he explained. "We would have loved to sign him for less money but that wasn't possible in that moment.
"We wanted to have an extra option. We had Bobby [Firmino] — the best false nine in the world — and we needed someone with more speed. We had Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo — great.
"But what player don't we have? I thought Cody can play a little bit like Bobby, but he is much better on the wing. We all signed Darwin together, but no problem to admit that it didn't work out as good as it could.
"But without Darwin, so many good things wouldn't have happened. The biggest comeback of all times against Newcastle. I loved that day."
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