MANCHESTER UNITED TRIED to lure Jurgen Klopp away from Borussia Dortmund in 2014 by describing themselves as “an adult version of Disneyland.”
The German was strongly linked with a switch to Old Trafford as the club struggled under David Moyes following Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
And according to the upcoming biography on Klopp – Bring the Noise, written by Raphael Honigstein – United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward flew to see Klopp just weeks before Moyes’ sacking.
However, Klopp apparently found Woodward’s bizarre comparison between United and Disneyland “a bit unsexy” and therefore decided to remain at Dortmund.
Serialised in the Daily Mail, the book reads: “Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward had flown out to see Klopp in Germany.
“David Moyes’s short tenure at Old Trafford was coming to an end, and Klopp was United’s favourite to replace him, to bring back a sense of adventure to the Red Devils’ game.
“Woodward told Klopp that the Theatre of Dreams was ‘like an adult version of Disneyland’, a mythical place where, as the nickname suggested, the entertainment was world class and dreams came true.
“Klopp wasn’t entirely convinced by that sales pitch — he found it a bit ‘unsexy’, he told a friend — but he didn’t dismiss the proposition out of hand either.”
Klopp, 50, would later meet up with Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke to confirm he had made up his mind and that he would be turning down United’s offer.
The Manchester club sacked Moyes and handed the role to Ryan Giggs on an interim basis until the end of the 2013/14 campaign, before Louis van Gaal took up the position that summer.
Klopp remained at Dortmund until 2015 and joined United’s bitter rivals Liverpool in October that year, signing an initial three-year deal at Anfield.
The book also reports that the Reds boss was wanted by Manchester City and Tottenham shortly after snubbing United.
