Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has spoken of his admiration for Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho.

The Brazilian, now on-loan with Bayern Munich, made the £142m move to Barcelona in January, 2018 after starting the season at Anfield.

When asked about the record-breaking La Liga switch, Klopp told Pure Football Podcast: "I really respected Phil's switch from the first second.

"Not that I do that all the time but it felt oh wow that could be difficult.

"So it's not about yes we signed a new contract so many weeks before that but it was really clear he would not have asked me for any other club but for this club there was no chance.

"Then we had to be hard in the summer because we had no other solution. We lost Adam Lallana [to injury] in that time as well, we would have lost two players.

"That's not possible, you cannot solve that on the transfer market.

"He was open to that [staying] and that was really cool. Then you have to be fair in the window and say we can do it, we don't like it but we can do it."

Coutinho has spent the season on loan at Bayern Munich after a difficult time in Spain.

Klopp further addressed the playmaker's exit, as he continued: "Phil was our boy for a long time. We respect him a lot and wish him all the best.

"That's how football should be. That's the most important thing the club showed in that moment."