LIVERPOOL -- Jurgen Klopp has praised Liverpool's decision to hand defender Jon Flanagan a new contract after he fought back from a long-term knee injury.
Flanagan, who grew up close to Anfield as a Liverpool fan, is popular among the squad and with supporters, being one of few locals to feature for the club in recent times. He had been in limbo, however, with his current deal due to expire in the summer.
Captain Jordan Henderson had joined the voices urging Liverpool to ensure the right-back -- who returned to action on Jan. 20 having missed 20 months through injury -- stayed at the club.
Klopp told a news conference on Friday he was pleased to report that this would now be the case.
"I was a little bit involved," he said. "Of course we are all happy, in this special case with his long [injury]. I'm really pleased for Flanno. It's good news for us but it's even better news for Flanno.
"There are many full-backs in the world but not so many Scousers and not many who came back from this sort of injury. He's our boy."
Klopp said he was not involved in negotiations but added: "I was involved in the decision to offer him a new contract. How long the contract is, things like that."
Flanagan is not registered in Liverpool's Europa League squad, but in his absence Liverpool posted a solid defensive display at Old Trafford on Thursday as they beat Manchester United on aggregate to reach the last eight.
Dejan Lovren, who had endured a difficult time at the club before Klopp's arrival, was part of that success, and the German said he is now one of several defenders showing their true colours.
"I heard before I came here, and I saw in his eyes when I came here, that he was not in the best situation," Klopp said, before recalling match that Lovren played in when he was Borussia Dortmund boss in August 2014.
"There was only one game in my mind before I came here: Borussia Dortmund v Liverpool in a friendly. It was his debut for Liverpool. He was outstanding -- so that was my impression.
"Sometimes for players, the good thing with a complete change is you can start really new, and that's what he did and you can see his quality.
"Both centre-halves [Lovren and Mamadou Sakho] were really brilliant, but I don't want to forget in his position Martin Skrtel -- he played with big passion for the under-21s [away to West Ham United U21s on Wednesday], travelled for six hours on the bus. He had a long-term injury, but he is brilliant too.
"Kolo Toure has done a brilliant job since I've been here. When I started here, he could play 30 minutes or something, but now he is always available and a real role model in each training session, so that's great.
"Lucas [Leiva] played perfect in this position. We had a lot of problems with centre-halves and had not the best record for conceding goals for a while, but we've had really good performances in this position."