The Armenia international held several transfer talks with former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers back in 2013, but Klopp persuaded the midfielder to leave Shakhtar Donetsk and join him at Borussia Dortmund instead.

Both have since moved on from BVB, but Mkhitaryan told the Daily Mail that things could have been a lot different had it not been for the German tactician.

"I spoke two or three times on the phone to Rodgers, he was saying he really wanted me and that I would get to play with Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard," Mkhitaryan said.

"Half of me thought I had to go there, the other half was not so confident, that the gap to the Premier League might be too big for a skinny player from the Ukrainian League.

"Two weeks later, Klopp broke off his holiday on an island next to Denmark to come and see me in Dortmund. I knew he had a good reputation for working with younger players and, after we met, I felt more comfortable to sign for Dortmund. I think I made the right decision."

Similar to his early days at Old Trafford, Mkhitaryan endured a difficult start to lift at Dortmund. Klopp, however, eventually was able to coax the best out of the playmaker.

"[Klopp] was always next to you if there were playing problems or life problems. He is a good person," he said.

"In particular, he helped me a lot because I was thinking too much about football. I took defeats too seriously, I would obsess about any chances I missed. He told me that it is just life and I had to let it go because when the next chance comes, I needed to be in the right frame of mind to take it.

"I learned to realise that everyone makes mistakes in life and you cannot worry on the pitch. You have to forget about it."