Robert Lewandowski: Jurgen Klopp made me a more complete player

Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski has heaped praise on Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in an interview with FourFourTwo magazine.

Klopp signed Lewandowski from Lech Poznan in 2010 after the Poland striker had hit 32 goals in 52 games for the Ekstraklasa.

Lewandowski was signed for €4.5m (£3.3m), which, at the time, was a substantial outlay for a club who were still feeling the financial effects of their 2005 administration.

While the Pole went onto to excel at the Signal Iduna Park, he endured a frustrating first season at the club and was unable to hold down a first team spot in his preferred centre-forward position.

Klopp elected to deploy Lewandowski in the number 10 role behind Lucas Barrios, which was a source of consternation for the Polish forward.

"Borussia first expressed an interest after my first year in Poznan," Lewandowski told the November 2015 issue of the magazine.

"When I left after the second season, I wanted to take the next step -- but suddenly I was playing in a No. 10 role. I was quite mad because I wanted to play up front.

"It was only in the following year that I realised how much I had learned while playing in that position. I told myself: 'You have become a better player.' Then I realised why the coach had asked me to play as a No.10; he made me a more complete player."

Lewandowski, now regarded as the pre-eminent striker in world football, scored eight goals in 33 games during his first season.

The 27-year-old left Dortmund to move to Bayern on a free transfer in the summer of 2014 having scored 103 goals in 187 games for Dortmund.