Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has expressed his shock at the fact that his club were able to bring Shinji Kagawa back to the Westfallenstadion this summer, with the German boss surprised at the fact that Manchester United were willing to let him go, as reported by the Daily Star.
Despite having signed the Japanese international from Dortmund in 2012 for £12 million, the Manchester club were happy to let him move back to the club where he made his name for only £6.8 million, a huge loss on a player who never truly settled during his time in the Premier League.
Klopp, however, highly rates the diminutive midfielder, and threw him straight back into action at the weekend upon his return to Dortmund. He shone in the match against Freiburg, and capped off a good display with a well taken goal.
He said: “I was kind of surprised Kagawa was on the market again.
“His first year at Manchester United was Sir Alex Ferguson’s last year, so that isn’t the time to develop players.
“The only thing you want at that stage is results and titles. Kagawa’s second year at United was the first year of the new coach, so that’s also all about results.
“Then there was a third manager. So we saw the chance to sign Kagawa and we took it. Kagawa was sensational against Freiburg.”
Dortmund face Arsenal in their opening Champions League group stage encounter tonight.
