The Borussia Dortmund coach lavished praise on the Paris
Saint-Germain striker but concedes the club cannot afford his services
Jurgen Klopp believes Zlatan Ibrahimovic is an
extraordinary talent but admits Borussia Dortmund have no chance of signing the
Paris Saint-Germain striker.
The Dortmund coach was speaking just days after their
meeting at the Ballon d'Or event when the Sweden international jokingly asked
Klopp when he planned to sign him.
While the BVB boss admits that Ibrahimovic - winner of
the Ferenc Puskas award for his outstanding goal against England - is an
incredible talent, he says there is no chance of bringing him to Signal Iduna
Park.
"I like it, I love his antics, he is an extraordinary
player. However, there is no option of recruiting a player of that level,"
Klopp told DPA during the club's winter break in La Manga.
"He told me that I should let everyone at Dortmund
know that he enjoys watching us play football.
"There were years in which he probably did not even
know there was a football club in Dortmund. Now he knows and likes us - that
says it all."
Klopp also spoke about rivals Bayern Munich, who are in
firmly in control of the Bundesliga at the midway point of the 2013-14 season.
The Bavarians are seven points clear of second-placed
Bayer Leverkusen and 12 points clear of Klopp's side in fourth having just
secured BVB's striker Robert Lewandowski, who will join the club at the end of
the season.
"In one game we can beat them, but Bayern have all
sorts of weapons and can respond to whatever happens in football," Klopp
continued.
"They are a team that have the kind of depth on the
bench that all of their competitors on the planet would like to have.
"That makes fighting them very difficult for teams
playing with them in the same league.
"For teams who face them only once or twice that is
irrelevant, but we have to measure ourselves against them all the time. It is a
competition that you cannot win in the long-term."
Culled from Goal
