If you think back to Liverpool’s 2018/19 Champions League-winning season, it’s easy to forget that Barcelona, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur-slayer Divock Origi was not meant to still be a Reds player.
Having spent the 2017/18 season narrowly avoiding relegation on loan at VfL Wolfsburg, the Belgian had been expected to leave Anfield that summer only for Liverpool’s asking price to not be met. Instead, he would enter the final year of his contract and feature sporadically before writing his name into Reds folklore forever.
He wouldn't make his first appearance of the season until a late substitute appearance in a 2-0 loss away at Red Star Belgrade in November 2018, before marking his first Premier League outing of the season with that famous last-minute winner against Everton a month later. The rest, as they say, is history. Come 2019, he was a matchday squad regular once again as he emerged as ever the man for the big occasion, with his decisive goals against Barcelona, Newcastle United and Tottenham in the Champions League final essentially earning him a new three-year deal against the odds.
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And while he’d leave at the end of that contract to join AC Milan on a Bosman transfer last summer, such efforts ensure he remains one of the Kop's most favourite modern players. Even during the 2022 World Cup, some supporters have repeatedly pointed to the absence of the striker as the reason behind Belgium’s dismal failings. Football without Origi is nothing, don’t you know.
Yet if it wasn't for his decisive match-winning moments back in 2018/19, Liverpool would have let the striker leave on a free transfer at the end of that season, along with fellow out-of-contract forward Daniel Sturridge. The Reds even had a deal lined up for Origi’s would-be replacement, only for Klopp to pull the plug once the Belgian delivered the goods.
It has been well-documented in the past that Liverpool were interested in signing Max Kruse in 2019. Coming to the end of his contract at Werder Bremen, the then 31-year-old was available on a free transfer and talks were held with the Reds as he returned an impressive 12 goals and 14 assists from 36 appearances in 2018/19.
A reliable goalscorer and creator for a number of seasons in Germany, such totals meant he had delivered 94 goals and 80 assists from 287 appearances over the previous eight seasons with FC St Pauli, SC Freiburg, Borussia Monchengladbach, VfL Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen prior to interest from Liverpool, as he made his name in the Bundesliga and even won 14 caps for the Germany national team.
Capable of playing upfront, behind a striker or on either flank, Kruse was also the Werder Bremen captain with Klopp’s interest in his services on a free transfer hardly a surprise as a result.
Yet Liverpool end up keeping Origi and Kruse signed for Turkish side Fenerbahce instead. At the time he would claim he had turned down the Reds, but he has since revealed it was the club’s decision.
“During the transfer period, I've received lots of offers and one of them was Liverpool. But I decided to join Fenerbahce because I believe I will be very happy there," Kruse told beIN Sports back in 2019.
Yet he shared a different story when speaking on the the Spieltagssiegerbesieger – Der Kickbase Podcast in February 2021.
“Of course, I would have done that. In my opinion, it was relatively fixed,” he recalled. “[Liverpool] actually wanted to give up two strikers.
“Then one of the strikers scored goals in the Champions League semi-final and final. Then it was over. At that moment it was disappointing.
"Talking to Jurgen Klopp was awesome (though). We spoke on the phone once or twice. Everything is great with him. I’m not angry with Jurgen. Every now and then I send him a photo from vacation!"
Meanwhile, Kruse was quoted again lifting the lid on the failed transfer by En Son Hober earlier this week.
“We had been on the phone with Jurgen Klopp since February,” he explained. “It was like I was transferred to Liverpool, only the signature was missing. It would be the pinnacle of my career.
“However, things developed very differently. The duo of Sturridge and Origi was going to be sold, I was going to sign. That was their plan. Then Origi started scoring many goals in the last part of the season. The club changed its mind after these goals.
“Jurgen called me [and said]: ‘Sorry Max. The decision is to keep Origi. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to sign you’. My transfer to Liverpool didn’t happen at the last minute. I was very upset.”
Kruse would end up delivering seven goals and eight assists from a solitary season in Turkey before returning to Germany with Union Berlin. There he'd form a deadly strike partnership with Liverpool loanee Taiwo Awoniyi, contributing 19 goals and 12 assists from 45 appearances during a successful 18-month stint before returning to VfL Wolfsburg back in January and firing seven goals from just 14 appearances last season.
Despite now being 34 years old, the veteran clearly still has an eye both for a goal and assist. And he’s back on the market too after Wolfsburg cancelled his contract by mutual consent last month.
But despite again being available on a free transfer, don’t expect Klopp to reignite his interest in the veteran anytime soon. Having already led a colourful career prior to holding transfer talks with Liverpool three years ago, his 2022/23 campaign has certainly been eventful so far, albeit not for necessarily the right reasons!
While Kruse would start the campaign in the Wolfsburg side, he hasn’t actually played for them since the start of September after the Bundesliga outfit suspended him following a falling-out with manager Niko Kovac. His boss would hit out at his commitment after he had questioned why he wasn’t starting more prior to his suspension.
Yet Wolfsburg would win their first game of the season at the sixth attempt, against Eintracht Frankfurt, after the striker had been banished, as both Kovac and sporting director Marcel Schafer confirmed he would never play for the club again.
"We demand 100 per cent identification, concentration and focus on Wolfsburg from all players,” Kovac told German broadcaster Sky Sports following the win. “We didn't have that feeling with Max. That's why he's not there.
"We didn't see any impetus from Max that he could help the team. The club is more important than everything else and that's why we made the decision together. We informed him that he will not play a role for us in the future. No more games." Schafer added: "He will never play for VfL Wolfsburg again."
Kruse would comment on his future later that month after taking part in Claudio Pizarro's testimonial match as he looked to keep his spirits high despite his suspension,
"We'll see (what my next move will be). I'll have to wait a few more months, because nothing will happen before January anyway,” he told reporters. "I accept the situation as it is. It's no use if I'm bad-tempered and in a bad mood all the time.
“I'll keep trying to train, keep fit and then I'd definitely like to play football again in January.”
It would later emerge that one of the issues Kovac had taken with Kruse was a claim from the striker that he only trained for about three-and-a-half hours per day. The Wolfsburg manager would claim, "There are others who stay longer on the training ground and work the whole program."
Yet when an MRI scan confirmed that Kruse had suffered a thigh injury which would prevent him from training, it opened up a new war of words between manager and player last month. "He hasn't posted about it already?" was Kovac’s sarcastic response when questioned by reporters at a pre-match press conference.
Wolfsburg captain Maximilian Arnold would also criticise Kruse’s work ethic when speaking to Kicker Magazine, stating: "I really like to go to work. I'm not like Max Kruse with his three-and-a-half hours, but stay a little longer here in order to do something for myself and my body."
Baited by both manager and captain, Kruse would take to Instagram to hit out at the pair.
"Friday night, a perfect start to the weekend, you might think," Kruse ranted. "After all, I've kept my mouth shut for a long time, haven't said anything for five weeks, but apparently I'm just omnipresent in some people's minds.
"Actually, only one. I don't know why he (Arnold) has to keep talking about me and keeps citing me as an example even though no one asks him.
"He says I train for three-and-a-half hours and he's there longer, pays attention to his body. We know what the problem is. Namely, the one who has less talent just has to train more."
While Kruse might not have been able to train, he made the most of his time off the pitch during his suspension at least. An avid poker player, the 34-year-old won the equivalent of $120k at a World Series of Poker Europe event, which required a $1,700 entry fee, in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.
"I'm overwhelmed. It's the greatest feeling to have finally won a WSOP bracelet," Kruse said, via WSOP's official website after advancing to the final round and picking up the victory with a trio of 2s. "I've wanted to win for 10 years and, of course, it makes me proud."
It was certainly a well-timed poker win for the striker, coming a month after his £260,000 Lamborghini was stolen and vandalised, causing £35k of damage when turning up two days later, while his wife, Dilara, was out shopping.
The pair run their own YouTube channel and would recount the ordeal for subscribers, as Kruse, who is a keen motor enthusiast, owns several cars and even runs his own racing team, admitted he initially didn’t believe his car had been stolen.
Dilara said: “First I went shopping and then to the lawyer and then the car was gone,” before Kruse said: “You often think the car is gone. You’ve been looking for the car for two hours because you just parked on the street, so I thought, come on, I was really tired, I’m going to sleep for an hour now. The car will be back in an hour.”
But Dilara insisted it had disappeared, with Kruse adding: “So I said, ‘Okay, I’ll go there on my scooter,’ then the car really disappeared.” Dilara continued: “Then I went completely crazy. My nerves disappeared, I cried.”
Trying to make his wife feel better, Kruse told her: “Come on honey, it’s not that bad, it happened, it’s insured. The main thing is that we’re okay.”
The car finally turned up two blocks away 48 hours later, as Kruse explained: “They copied the key. Then they have automatic access. The window was broken from the inside. Seats need to be replaced.”
Meanwhile, it was Kruse’s comments about how he balances his Max Kruse Racing team, and interest in poker, with his football career, that appears to have played a part in the latest breakdown of his relationship with Wolfsburg in the first place.
“Training is three to four hours a day. So if you leave home at 9am, you come back in the afternoon,” Kruse said. “My clubs always know what I do outside of football and they talked about it when I had my first meetings with them.
“Of course football is my passion and my job, but I also have to do some things on the side. I have my racing team, I like poker. They knew what was coming when they signed me.
“If you can win, you can do whatever you want. My performances were always good, so I’ve never had a problem with my teammates or with the coach or anything. I know that after my race I will do something with racing and get behind the wheel, I am 100 percent sure.”
Talk about a busy suspension. Meanwhile, Kruse’ poker success was ultimately not the first time his poker playing had made headlines.
He was infamously fined €25k and warned of his future conduct during a previous stint with Wolfsburg after it was revealed that he had lost €75k worth of poker winnings in the back seat of a taxi back in October 2015.
At the time, Wolfsburg sporting director Klaus Allofs said of the incident: “Some people would have never seen so much money in their lives and certainly not in cash.
“There was a conversation between Max, myself and our coach and he has been fined. We explained to him what kind of behaviour we expect from our players in their free time in public. I can only hope that this is a lesson for him and he will change his behaviour somewhat.”
Yet that wasn’t the only telling off Kruse received at the time, as he was also scolded by manager Dieter Hecker during a winter training camp in Portugal over his unhealthy addiction for chocolate spread Nutella. Yes, really.
“This sort of thing is dealt with internally,” Allofs said of Kruse’s sweet tooth. “We speak with all of our players every six months.
“The aim is to support them in such a way that will put them in a position to deliver their optimum performance. Max does need to correct a few things.”
As if all that was not enough, Kruse was also photographed at a night club around the same time where he reportedly grabbed a woman's mobile phone and tried to delete the pictures, according to German newspaper Bild. It later transpired that the woman in question was a photo-journalist.
"Of course I was annoyed at some point and then maybe I reacted a little inappropriately," Kruse was quoted as saying at the time
The three incidents combined prompted the striker to be dropped from the Germany squad, with his last cap coming in October 2015. Unsurprisingly, Germany manager Joachim Low was not sympathetic, saying in March 2016: “We need players who are focused on football and also understand their role as role models.
"Last week I made it clear to Max Kruse what I expect from him, both on and off the field. I want players who focus on football and the European Championship, also between games.
“The incident last weekend contradicts my expectations. Max behaved unprofessionally once again. I don't accept that.
"The European Championship in the summer is casting its shadow, we have big goals there with the national team. We need players who are focused and concentrated and who are also aware of their role as role models.”
Wolfsburg sporting director Allofs would then issue a statement of support to Kruse, following the series of accusations made regarding the player's private life.
"In processing the recent developments, we came to the conclusion that Max Kruse now very much needs our help,” Allofs said. “The events and problems – some of which from his past – have caught up with him and there is nothing neither he nor we can do to control that.
"We disapprove of his behaviour and clearly distance ourselves from the incidents. My colleagues on the board and I apologise in the name of VfL Wolfsburg to anyone who has unwillingly been confronted by these events.
“Max Kruse has also sincerely apologised and acknowledged the fact that his behaviour was completely unacceptable, both on a personal level and in respect to the club. Beyond his apology, we demand an immediate change in his way of life.”
Despite such episodes, Wolfsburg manager Hecker confirmed he expected Kruse to remain at the club. “Right now I don't expect that to be the case,” he said when asked if the striker could be sold.
For the record, Kruse, who celebrated his 28th birthday that season, would return nine goals and 12 assists for Wolfsburg during the 2015/16 campaign, making 43 appearances as they finished eighth in the Bundesliga, reached the Champions League quarter-finals and won the DFL-Supercup.
But he was also sold after just one season, joining Werder Bremen in August 2016 after his antics had seen him stand no chance of being included in the Germany squad for Euro 2016. Though, curiously he would represent Germany at last year's '2020 Olympics' in Tokyo, where he was captained by Wolfsburg team-mate Arnold - "Namely, the one who has less talent (and) has to train more."
Of course, that didn’t stop Wolfsburg from re-signing Kruse in January this year, prior to suspending him in September and then cancelling his contract last month. “In open and honest discussions we agreed that this solution is the best for everyone involved. We wish Max all the best in his future,” Sporting director Schafer would say in a statement.
So yeah, probably shouldn't expect Klopp to reignite Liverpool’s interest in Kruse anytime soon. In fact, it makes it a surprise that the Reds ever considered signing him in the first place before Origi’s Champions League heroics.
But say what you like about the nutella-addicted, poker-loving, motorsport enthusiast, he’s certainly a character! And with so many twists and turns in his rollercoaster career, both on and off the pitch, if we’re being honest, he would probably have held nearly as big a place in Kopite hearts as the Reds’ beloved Belgian had he actually been handed the opportunity to be Liverpool’s next big cult hero three years ago before Klopp pulled the plug.
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