Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said that he rejected an approach to become Manchester United manager following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.
The German was approached by Ferguson as he moved toward the end of his 27-year reign at Old Trafford, but Klopp felt the timing was wrong to walk away from Borussia Dortmund.
With Klopp, whose team play Man United on Sunday, unwilling to consider a move to England at the time, David Moyes was appointed as United manager.
Klopp left Dortmund at the end of last season and following a brief break from football and replaced Brendan Rodgers at Anfield in October.
"We spoke,'' Klopp said of he and Ferguson. "We spoke not a lot but, for me, it was a lot. It was a big honour, the whole talk, to be honest. But I could not leave Dortmund.
"You are in April and you are in the middle of the planning for next season. You have this player and this player who are coming but then you are not there anymore? That doesn't work. Not in my life.
"I didn't hear about a real offer [from United] but, if there was, I could not have done it. I first had to finish the job with Dortmund and then think about other things.
"Maybe that is not smart but that is my way. It was the same at Mainz.''
Klopp is a big fan of Ferguson, calling him the "John Lennon of football" -- and says he believes it is one of the "best'' things you can do as a manager to sit down and listen to the Scot.
"It's a big honour to talk to Sir Alex," he said. "For a manager it's nearly the best thing you can do, to sit there and listen.
"Maybe he is the greatest ever -- the John Lennon of football. From my side there is a big amount of respect. What he did is not easy for another manager to do.''