Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp reveals Tottenham star every team 'would love to have'

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has lavished praise on Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen and revealed that he explored the possibility of signing the Denmark international when he was Borussia Dortmund boss. Eriksen joined Spurs in the summer of 2013 in a deal worth £12.5m (€14.8m) and has since developed into one of the finest playmakers in the Premier League.

Klopp has made no secret of his admiration for 25-year-old Eriksen, who was receptive to the idea of moving to the Westfalenstadion, and believes "everyone would love to have him in their team". The former Dortmund coach earmarked the Dane as a potential replacement for Mario Gotze, but in the end plumped for Henrikh Mkhitaryan over him and Manchester City attacker Kevin De Bruyne.

"Christian Eriksen is a great player; everyone would love to have him in their team," the Liverpool boss told Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet. "At that time we had three players [on our list] that we wanted – Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Kevin De Bruyne and Christian Eriksen.

"We scouted all three of them intensely, but we knew that we could only get one and we were happy to get Mkhitaryan. Since then Eriksen has taken a great step in joining Tottenham and he is playing very well."

Eriksen's long-term future seems to lie in north London; he signed a new long-term deal worth £75,000-a-week with Tottenham earlier in the season and is one of the most important figures in Mauricio Pochettino's side. While Klopp may be a fervent admirer of the former Ajax starlet there seems to be no real need for him at Liverpool, with the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino already at the former Mainz gaffer's disposal.

Eriksen may have previously entertained the idea of working with Klopp but his immediate focus will be on Tottenham's Europa League last-32 second leg against Gent on Thursday evening. Liverpool, who have not played a game since beating Spurs 2-0 almost a fortnight ago, will hope to move up into the top four positions on Monday when they host Premier League champions Leicester City.