Akinfenwa asked Klopp 'to hit him up', is FIFA star and in talks for WWE career

The 39-year-old, who has already announced his plans to retire at the end of the season, could play his final ever Carabao Cup game tonight.

Akinfenwa, one of football's most popular figures, couldn't face a bigger task to chase a dream return to Wembley than by facing City.

But the legendary striker has made a career out of headline moments, having given the best post-match interview ever last year.

Akinfenwa had finally achieved his dream of becoming a Championship player after Wycombe beat Oxford United four years after he was left without a club.

Despite scoring a penalty to help AFC Wimbledon to a 2-0 win over Plymouth Argyle in the League Two play-off final, the man nicknamed 'The Beast' was released from his contract.

Speaking after that game, he put out a call to any managers looking to sign him, saying: "I think I'm technically unemployed, so any managers hit me up on the WhatsApp and get me a job!"

Wycombe answered his call and after helping them to the Championship Akinfenwa joked that the 'only person that can hit me up on WhatsApp this time is Klopp, so we can celebrate together'.

Incredibly, Jurgen Klopp did reach out with a message of congratulations as did Liverpool pair Jordan Henderson and Virgil van Dijk.

Akinfenwa is a huge Reds fan, and willingly accepted a fine from Wycombe after he wore a Liverpool top to training after their Premier League title victory last year.

He even scored against them for Wimbledon in a 2-1 FA Cup defeat in 2015 before begging Steven Gerrard not to leave the club for LA Galaxy.

It may now be close to the end of Akinfenwa's time in England and he could follow idol Gerrard in moving to America - but not to play football.

Wycombe's top scorer in EFL history told talkSPORT last year that a move into WWE is still firmly in the pipeline.

Akinfenwa is an ardent wrestling fan and first discussed the possibility of switching into sports entertainment in 2019.

Further meetings have taken place since and when quizzed on the likelihood of him making the transition, he told talkSPORT: "I've had a couple of calls recently in regards to that.

"I'll be following up on that soon - so it could go up or down depending on the outcome of that.

"I can't tell you a direct percentage in terms of that [coming to fruition], but it's something I'm really passionate about, so watch this space, people."

Akinfenwa has long been tipped to make waves in WWE having consistently been named as the strongest player on FIFA since 2005.

The Chairboys striker is still waiting to see if he can defend his title one last time on FIFA 22 amid competition from Romelu Lukaku and Daryl Dike.

He told the Big Issue last month: "Everything's got an expiry date. I haven't got any doubt on me being the strongest.

"I see a couple people putting in the work, but there can only be one Beast Mode."