One of the biggest recent transfer stories in German football came to an end on Friday, as the deal to transfer Cologne winger Said El Mala to Borussia Dortmund fell through.
Reports linking the player with Dortmund claimed that new Germany national team coach Jürgen Klopp had recommended the 19-year-old make the move to Signal Iduna Park.
The 59-year-old former Dortmund coach strongly denied it. He insisted he had never tried to push El Mala towards the club where he spent seven years as manager.
Klopp said: "It annoyed me a little that people think I'm so stupid that in my first official act I would call a player and tell him: Borussia Dortmund would be a good fit for you".
Of course I didn't do that. That's not my job".
Speaking to the German Football Association's official channels, as quoted by the Kicker newspaper's YouTube channel, he added: "If I work with a player for a longer period in the future, and he then comes to me to ask for advice, I will give him some advice. But that wouldn't be affected by whether or not I had previously worked at the club".
He went on to say: "It's always about the player. Said El Mala is certainly a nice guy, but of course we didn't talk about that".