Italian striker Ciro Immobile has opened up about his time at Borussia Dortmund under Jurgen Klopp.
Immobile only spent one season with the Bundesliga side as things did not fall into place for him in Germany.
The now-31-year-old was brought in by Klopp in 2014 from Torino to replace Robert Lewandowski following the Polish striker’s switch to Bayern Munich
Unfortunately, Immobile struggled to find his shooting boots at Dortmund, and managed just 10 goals in 34 games, leading to an exit after just 12 months to Sevilla.
However, the Italy international insists that his poor season wasn’t down to Klopp, who he admits he was “lucky” to play for.
(Image: Alexandre Simoes)
“Klopp leaves something behind for you. You don’t forget someone like him,” he told Sport Bild.
“I was lucky to be able to play under him. He’s a super emotional trainer. Someone for whom you fight for every ball.
“He demands that of you too, and you can see that in his behaviour on the sidelines.”
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Going into more detail about why he may have failed to hit the mark at Dortmund, Immobile admits that he thinks Klopp was more trusting in other, more established members of the squad.
“I think that I just moved to Dortmund at an inconvenient time as far as the team was concerned,” he added.
“With Klopp, BVB became champions in 2011 and 2012 and then came second twice. After the first half of my season there, we were second from last in the Bundesliga.
“That meant young, foreign players being left out. I don’t think Klopp didn’t see any quality in me, but in this difficult phase he put more trust in players he already knew and could rely on.”
Immobile in the prime of his career now having bagged 36 goals in 37 Serie A games last season.
And the Lazio ace even bagged in Italy’s opening game at Euro 2020, scoring the second of their three goals in the 3-0 win over Turkey on Friday night.
