The internet has been left baffled by footage appearing to show Liverpool player Xherdan Shaqiri “disappearing” into manager Jurgen Klopp’s coat after the team’s FA Cup game at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
While Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat could partly be explained by Klopp fielding a much-changed team, far less understandable was where forward Shaqiri disappeared to after receiving a hug from his boss on the pitch after the match.
A clip circulating on social media shows the German putting an arm round the player as he walks past, but seemingly failing to appear on the other side of the manager.
What’s more, Liverpool’s Brazilian midfielder Fabinho seems to pop up at just the moment his teammate vanishes.
Magic? Some Twitter users certainly thought so…
The BBC also shared the footage with viewers in the UK, signaling that the baffling clip was not just the work of some crafty video editing online.
The televisual trickery is perhaps explained by the contrasting heights of Klopp and Shaqiri, with the German standing at around 6ft 4in (193cm), while his forward is a relatively diminutive 5ft 5in (169cm), meaning he could quite plausibly have slipped from sight - or possibly an unusual jump between frames.
While Liverpool exited the FA Cup in the third round at Molineux, they are sitting four points clear at the top of the Premier League.
If Klopp can guide them to a first league title in 29 years, then he really might be a magician.