Title winner anyway? How Christian Pulisic almost reunited with former Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool – but instead joined Chelsea
Back in 2018, Christian Pulisic was a summer target for Jurgen Klopp, but the Liverpool boss opted to sign Xherdan Shaqiri instead.
Who knows what would've happened if the American linked up with his former Borussia Dortmund boss at Anfield instead of joining Chelsea in January 2019.
But one thing's for sure - he wouldn't have been at Stamford Bridge to score the goal which might've clinched the title for Klopp's men.
The Reds are on the verge of claiming their first top-flight triumph in 30 years on Thursday night as Pulisic put Chelsea 1-0 up over second-place Man City, who must win.
Even though Liverpool haven't kicked a ball, Klopp can claim a small chunk of the credit for Chelsea's goal after bringing a young Pulisic through in Germany.
Although he never played a senior match for Klopp, the winger joined his Dortmund side as a 16-year-old in 2015, shortly before the German coach left for Liverpool.
And Pulisic recently said he remains indebted to Klopp for his help behind the scenes.
Speaking about his time at Dortmund on the , Pulisic said: “I’m getting ready, going to training and it’s just unreal. I was 16 or 17 and I’m going in the warm-up and there’s huge names at the time.
“There’s [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang, Marco Reus, Matts Hummels, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan. All these guys and they were just in the Champions League final the year before.
“It’s like I’m going in and I’m just this 16-year-old kid. I was thinking just do my best. I was just so excited and I’m just thankful to Jurgen Klopp that he gave me that opportunity.
“I’ll take that with me forever and I’m really grateful.”
Pulisic clearly left an impression on Klopp, who was reportedly keen to prise him away from his former club in 2018.
Liverpool already had an £11million bid for the winger rejected in 2016 when Pulisic was just 17.
Since then, the youngster's price has soared significantly, but according to the , Klopp did not think the 21-year-old's stats justified a summer bid.
Pulisic scored just four goals and created a further five in 32 Bundesliga matches during the 2017/18 season and the manager was not willing to fork out the money demanded for those kind of numbers.
Klopp opted instead to sign the Premier League proven Shaqiri from Stoke in the summer - the Swiss forward notched up 12 goals and nine assists in two seasons for the Potters and, at £13.5m, was a cheaper alternative.
Chelsea, meanwhile, signed Pulisic for £58m in January 2019 - but his greatest contribution so far has been for Liverpool.