When Liverpool signed Emre Can from Bayer Leverkusen, it seemed that the club was moving in a new and exciting direction.
On this day in 2014, the Reds completed the £10million move for the versatile German midfielder. Having been once trained by Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich, there was hope that Liverpool had bagged a real gem.
Brendan Rodgers was the manager who brought Can to Merseyside. Having just helped guide Liverpool to a second place finish in the Premier League, narrowly behind Manchester City.
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"Emre is an exciting young talent and I'm delighted he's chosen Liverpool," said Rodgers at the time of Can’s arrival.
"He has recognised that we are a club that improves and nurtures exciting, ambitious players and I'm looking forward to seeing him take those next steps forward for us.
"We have tracked his progress for some time and I have been impressed with his attitude and qualities when I have seen him play both in the German Bundesliga and the Champions League.
"He has many of the attributes we look for; charisma on the football pitch and courage to want the ball and make things happen."
While it may have been Rodgers who signed Can, it wasn’t until Jurgen Klopp came to the club that Liverpool saw the player they wanted when they signed him. Under Rodgers, Can was often used in a variety of positions, including long stints at centre-back and the occasional match at right-back.
That changed when Klopp arrived. Under his fellow German, Can was utilised solely in midfield, where his talents and a box-to-box midfielder really showed.
He may only have scored 14 goals in his time at Liverpool, but he arguably scored one of the most remarkable in the club’s recent history. This came against Watford at Vicarage Road on May 1, 2017.
With a top four race in the balance, and the first half nearing a close with the scoreline goalless, Liverpool needed some magic to break the deadlock. They did just that, thanks to Can.
A delicate cross from Lucas Leiva found the boot of Can who performed an audacious bicycle kick to see the ball fly into the net. The finish sparked jubilant celebrations, with Can running over to the dugout to celebrate with Klopp and his team-mates, as Liverpool won 1-0 against the Hornets.
Klopp himself was a big fan of the goal, as you can imagine. It was later awarded the goal of the season for both Liverpool and the Premier League.
"The goal was spectacular. I only saw it once but it already looked pretty nice,” said Klopp after the match against Watford.
"He is a good boy, a good player - he deserves this goal. Nobody can take these points away from us, that's the best news."
Even Can himself couldn’t believe what had happened with his goal. He later called it the best in his career, which would likely stand true for the vast majority of professional footballers.
"I have never scored a goal like that. That's the best goal I've ever scored,” said Can, back in May 2017.
"I saw the space and I ran behind and my first thought was that I wanted to head it, then I didn't think too much.
"But the most important thing was three points after knowing what happened yesterday. It was a big game for us.”
However, a little over a year later, Can would be heading through the exit door at Anfield. The summer of 2018 would see the midfielder depart on a free transfer to Juventus when his contract expired.
His final appearance for the club was a cameo outing in the final stages of the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in 2018. He’d been sidelined with a back injury for nearly two months prior to the match, and only just recovered to play seven minutes in Kiev.
While Can's departure would have been a tough pill to swallow, Liverpool made the news much more bearable. Mere hours after the defeat in Kiev, the Reds announced the £43.7m signing of Fabinho from Monaco, who hasn't turned out to be too bad a replacement.
Liverpool wanted to keep Can. Klopp wanted to keep Can. but the player wanted a fresh challenge.
"I had a lot of offers from very good teams," Can said, a month after leaving Liverpool.
"I decided to come to Juventus because I think the project here is very big. They have very big aims. I want to be part of the project here.
"I am really happy to be here. I know how Juventus play, I watched a lot of the games last season. One of my biggest idols was Zidane who played here too.
"My first manager when I started to play football was a huge Juventus fan. When I was six or seven he told me that one day I'd play for Juventus. Now I am here and it's a cool story.
"The club had good contact with my agent for many years. I just know how huge the club is and the mentality of the club - they want to win titles. That's my mentality too. I came here to win titles.
"I think the first target has to be to win Serie A and then comes the Champions League. That has to be our aim. I am here to help the team."
There were even rumours that Can had fallen out with Klopp, which was even cited as the main reason behind his desire to leave Liverpool. The player himself, though, quickly dismissed these suggestions.
"I had problems with Klopp? No, I had no problems with Klopp. I had a very good relationship with him," Can said.
"At the end he wished me all the best here. I never had problems with Klopp."
After just 18 months in Italy, Can was on the move again where he signed on loan with Borussia Dortmund in January 2020. A few months later, the deal was made permanent.
He is now a mainstay in the Dortmund team, which some people in football would view as his career coming full circle. At the club where Klopp really made a name for himself in football management.
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