'I wish Klopp had been Liverpool boss when I joined the club'

Ryan Babel is now plying his trade with Turkish side Besiktas, with his form seeing his win back his place in the Holland squad.

Babel spend four years at Liverpool between 2007 and 2011 but despite not being a particular success at Anfield, the Dutchman says that he still follows the club.

"Liverpool is my club," he told 'Sky Spots'. "I try to follow every game. I still support them, I wish them all the best."

Six years after his Anfield exit, Babel admits that many people may have forgotten about him, but he's delighted to have popped back up on people's radars once again.

"I'm sure a lot of people lost sight of me,".he admitted.

"Not everybody is following every league in the world so the Champions League is a platform where everybody can see what you're still able to do.

"During your career, you have to make decisions. Sometimes maybe you don't make such a good decision and at the end you have to try and recreate a position. That's what I did all these years when I was maybe more under the radar. Now I'm back at a certain position that I'm grateful for. Right now I'm just trying to enjoy football."

Babel believes his Liverpool career could have been very different, had his 20-year-old self had the opportunity to work under current Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, though he also admits that perhaps English football just wasn't for him.

"Judging from the outside I think the current Liverpool manager definitely seems to work with his players and try to improve them," he explained. "I think the 20-year-old me from that time, if I could have been managed under Jurgen Klopp, I'd have benefitted.

"As far as I can judge, English football is not for everybody. You need to have the lungs for it, you need to have the strength for it. That applies to me also, at this point I don't think I could survive in any team if it's not for my game.

"I liked mostly to play football on the ground and have a little bit of playing tactics rather than just up and down, long balls and second balls. That's not really my game.

"If there isn't a team that plays my type of game I don't think I could make a big difference. I have to be realistic."

Whilst he is currently enjoying life in Istanbul, Babel is refusing to rule anything out in the future, stressing the need for 'realism' in football these days.

"I'm at a certain age where the decisions you make have to be even more precise," he said. "Right now I definitely feel that this could be my end station but in football you never know. One year you can be loved, the following they want you out.

"Football always, you have to be realistic. I take it from season to season and right now I definitely think I could stay here for many years.

"But teams are developing every year, one year it was Swansea that played very good football, the next it was Southampton. When it's time, if it is there, you have to make the right decision."