Former Liverpool star Naby Keita has revealed that he had 'tears in my eyes' after discovering news of Jurgen Klopp's decision to leave the club in summer.
Klopp surprised the footballing world last week when he announced that he will be leaving the Merseyside club after nine years in charge.
The German has won the Premier League and Champions League while in the dugout at Anfield, but said he was 'running out of energy' to do the job.
Tributes for the Reds boss have poured in, since he made the announcement, and now one former player has admitted they view Klopp like 'my dad'.
Speaking to RMC Sport, ex-Red Naby Keita said: 'I'm not on the [social] networks but when they told me, I had tears in my eyes. He took me to Liverpool as his son and I consider him my dad.
'I wish him the best for the rest of his life. I'll try to write to him afterwards. Such is life, I bumped into him and I wasn't disappointed. We got trophies.'
Keita secured a £55million move from German side RB Leipzig to Liverpool back in 2017, as Klopp smashed the club's transfer record to sign the midfielder.
While the Guinea international may not have solidified himself as a starter under Klopp, his time in Merseyside can still be seen as an overwhelming success.
During his five-year stay at Anfield, Keita won the Premier League, the Champions League, an FA Cup, the League Cup, the Community Shield, the Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
In his 129 appearances for Liverpool, Keita managed to provide 18 goal contributions - in the form of 11 goals and seven assists.
While Keita was one of the former Liverpool players to heap praise on the Reds boss, one of their current stars also came out to talk on Klopp's departure.
Full-back Andy Robertson - who made his highly-anticipated return from injury on the weekend - said Liverpool must give him 'the send off that he truly deserves'
‘Like the rest of the world it was a bit of a shock when (the manager) told us all - nobody really knew where to look or what to do,’ said Robertson.
‘But you have to respect his decision, he's thought long and hard about it, he's not a rash person.
‘For what he's done for this club we'll all be forever grateful and I think yeah he doesn't want the fans singing his song but I think he's going to lose that battle unfortunately!
'The one thing he asked from us is that it has to be business as usual. Hopefully that results in giving him the send off that he truly deserves.’