David Wagner and Jurgen Klopp may be best friends, but when they were in talks with Huddersfield Town and Liverpool respectively they kept it secret from each other.

The pair were teammates at Mainz in the 1990s and later colleagues in management at Borussia Dortmund – their friendship cemented firmly when Wagner was best man at Klopp’s wedding.

Klopp has revealed to Liverpoolfc.com just how close they are as they prepare to do battle against each other for the Shankly Trophy in tonight’s sell-out friendly at the John Smith’s Stadium.

“David Wagner is one of my best friends, maybe my best friend,” Klopp explains.

“We played a few years together and we didn’t only play, we celebrated a few times!

“When I was in Munich I remember playing against 1860 and it was a draw and it was one of my best games for Mainz. Afterwards we went to the Oktoberfest, so it was a good night.”

The Shankly Trophy battle with Town's David Wagner and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp

Wagner took the reins at the John Smith’s less than a month after Klopp had been officially confirmed as Liverpool manager, in October 2015.

During the ongoing talks with their respective new clubs, neither man had told the other of his potential appointment – making for an interesting catch-up when they next met.

Klopp said: “In this business, with your best friends you have to keep a few secrets.

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“He didn’t know I went to the USA to speak with our owners and I actually had no idea that he was in talks with another English club.

“When I came back from the USA, I opened the door and first of all I saw his car sitting in front of my house and I thought ‘What’s he doing here?’ When I came in my wife said ‘Let him tell first!’

“I said ‘You first.’ He said he had spoken to a Championship club in England. I said ‘Interesting, which club?’ He said Huddersfield and I thought ‘OK, close to Liverpool.’

“I said I had come back from talks with Liverpool! So that’s how it was and a completely strange situation for both of us.

“We are pretty close to each other and it’s good. He’s a really good friend but more importantly for Huddersfield he is a brilliant manager. So a win-win situation!”