5 superstars Jurgen Klopp was forced to let go

#3 Mario Gotze (Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich)

Borussia Dortmund v Inter: Group F - UEFA Champions League

Another big player who was forced to let go by Jurgen Klopp was Borussia Dortmund's youth academy product Mario Gotze. The German joined Bayern Munich amid a lot of controversy after the Bavarians activated his release clause of €37 million in the 2012-13 season, hours before Dortmund's Champions League semi-final.

Back then, Gotze was an integral part of Jurgen Klopp's title-winning Dortmund side in 2010-11 and 2011-12. So, Dortmund fans were visibly frustrated when the German decided to join the club's bitter rivals.

Gotze claimed that his desire to play under Pep Guardiola was the main reason for his move. Unfortunately, the playmaker was badly affected by his manager's constant experimenting and shifting players around. As such, Gotze was relegated to the bench for most of the time and things got even worse when Carlo Ancelotti took charge and had no intention of playing him.

Gotze eventually returned to Borussia Dortmund in 2016, with Jurgen Klopp then having left the club. He had a difficult first two seasons upon his return to the club but won fans over during his performances in the 2018-19 season.

Gotze is now playing his football at PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands after leaving Dortmund on a free transfer last summer.

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#2 Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool to Barcelona)

Spartak Moskva v Liverpool FC - UEFA Champions League

Philippe Coutinho had developed into one of the world's best attacking midfielders under Jurgen Klopp and fans were devastated when he joined Barcelona for a reported £140 million in 2018.

The Catalans had pursued Coutinho for a while and had even made an initial bid which was rejected. But after the Brazilian handed in a transfer request, Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp had no choice but to let the midfielder go.

As such, Coutinho departed for Liverpool in January 2018 but the move hasn't quite worked out as expected. The midfielder managed to register just five goals and two assists in his first full season at the club which resulted in him being loaned out to Bayern Munich for the 2019-20 season.

He had a decent spell with the Bavarians and even scored twice off the bench to knock his parent club out of the Champions League, before returning the following season.

Injuries, however, have taken their toll and Coutinho has looked a fraction of his Liverpool self in Spain.

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#1 Robert Lewandowski - (Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich)

FC Bayern Muenchen v Borussia Moenchengladbach - Bundesliga

Robert Lewandowski is, without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest superstar Jurgen Klopp has let go during his managerial career.

Lewandowski arrived at Signal Iduna Park in 2010 as an up-and-coming 22-year-old from Poland with bags of talent. He was merely used as a substitute to Lucas Barrios in his debut season as Dortmund clinched the Bundesliga title.

The youngster did however show a lot of promise and quickly established himself as a first team regular under Jurgen Klopp. He was instrumental in helping the team clinch a 'domestic double' in 2012, as the forward netted 30 goals in all competitions during the season.

Even though Dortmund couldn't pick up any major silverware after that, and even lost out in the Champions League final, the striker continued to impress everyone. He was a key part of Jurgen Klopp's heavy-metal football at Dortmund, registering 103 goals and 42 assists in 187 appearances for the club.

Soon enough, his performances attracted attention from a host of big clubs across Europe and the forward eventually departed for bitter rivals Bayern Munich in 2014. His absence was immediately felt by the club as Jurgen Klopp's side could only muster a seventh-placed finish the following season.

Lewandowski, on the other hand, has gone on to enjoy tremendous success at the Allianz Arena, winning several trophies while netting 307 goals for the club. He is still going strong in front of goal and is arguably the most lethal striker in Europe right now.