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How Klopp saved midfield maestro Mkhitaryan

The 28-year-old could have been lining out for Liverpool against Manchester United but he rejected the Reds in 2013 because of the former BVB boss

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s status as the creative catalyst-in-chief for showdowns between Liverpool and Manchester United had been mapped out well in advance of arrival in England last July, the only difference being that he was meant to arrive at Anfield - not Old Trafford.

Armenia’s all-time top scorer had been scouted and analysed by the Reds’ recruitment team for a lengthy period and the ‘priority target’ tag was affixed to him three years prior to his 2016 move to Manchester.