Kevin De Bruyne has revealed an intervention from Jose Mourinho stopped him signing for Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2013.
De Bruyne lines up for Manchester City against Klopp's Liverpool on Saturday Night Football as English football's second-most expensive player following a £54.5m move from Wolfsburg.
But the Belgium forward's career would have followed a different path had he moved to Borussia Dortmund, then under Klopp's control, shortly after Mourinho's second coming at Chelsea.
Instead he was persuaded to stay at Stamford Bridge, only to start just five times before he was sold to Wolfsburg the following January.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, De Bruyne said: "I had a personal agreement [with Klopp]. I asked to go because I had a good feeling about Dortmund at the time. He called me, and said 'You will be the No 1'.
"At the time I thought it was a good decision to go but the manager [Jose Mourinho] told me 'You need to stay and you will get your chance here'. I accepted it and we moved on."
Dortmund went on to win a second straight Bundesliga title that season, and De Bruyne is backing Klopp to deliver long-term success at Anfield.
"I think Klopp is a good trainer," he said. "I saw the way Dortmund played and Liverpool play the same style.
"He tries to do the same. He is new here, and it will take some time. In the seven years he was there, he did a magnificent job."
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