Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that his former Manchester United compatriot Sir Alex Ferguson accepted to him that he had not got the best out of Shinji Kagawa. The Japanese international moved to Manchester United for around £ 16 million in 2012. After failing to hold down a first-team squad under three different managers – Ferguson, David Moyes, and Louis van Gaal – Kagawa returned to Dortmund this summer for a fraction of the fee. The 25-year-old played some of the best football of his career at Dortmund and he was expected to be a hit at United.
Ferguson reportedly met Klopp at an event in Nyon where the Scot accepted that United have not got the best out of Kagawa. The 25-year-old had spent only two seasons at Dortmund during which time he became famed for playing just behind Robert Lewandowski in an attacking formation. He scored 17 goals in 43 appearances in his final season at Dortmund. However, in the three years at Manchester United, he managed only six goals in 57 appearances. Most of those appearance came as a substitute, while Kagawa was often utilised in several positions across the pitch. Due to the presence of several number 10s, United were not able to give Kagawa his favoured no 10 place.
“I met Sir Alex in Nyon and he’s still in love with Shinji. He told me, ‘Shame we didn’t manage this well so that it worked out for him. We were satisfied in the first year’. And in the second year you usually make the next step but he didn’t manage to do it. But Sir Alex was saying ‘Shame we should have made this work’,” said Klopp. The return of Kagawa to Dortmund makes the German club extremely strong ahead of the Champions League campaign where they will face the likes of Arsenal in the group stages.