Stoke City signed Xherdan Shaqiri from Inter Milan in 2015 and after spending three years with the Potters, the winger left them for Liverpool last summer.
Ahead of the Reds’ Champions League clash against the Swiss international’s former club Bayern Munich, Sport1 in Germany interviewed the 27-year-old.
Stoke were one of three clubs to be relegated from the Premier League last season and the Merseyside club triggered the £13.5m release clause in his contract.
Shaqiri believes the current Championship side did not deserve to drop from the top flight club competition in England and also explained why he left Stoke before the start of this campaign.
“I had three nice years at Stoke City. They gave me the chance to play in the Premier League. But unfortunately, we were relegated,” the attacker explained.
“I was very disappointed about that because the club didn’t deserve that. But then I wanted a new challenge and had the opportunity with Liverpool.”
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Shaqiri also explains how Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp approached.
“My brother (Shaqiri’s adviser) got a call [from Klopp]. Then Jurgen wrote me an SMS and asked if I could be reached by Facetime. Then I wrote: ‘Sure’. So, he called me on the first call with Facetime. That was funny,” Shaqiri said.
“Jurgen called me and wanted to have me in the team. I did not hesitate too long, because I really wanted to play under him in this great club.”
Shaqiri has scored six goals and registered two assists in the Premier League this term. In the Champions League, he’s been restricted to just 86 minutes on the pitch across three appearances.
