Aubameyang tips ‘incredible’ Liverpool boss Klopp to seal Barcelona job in the summer

Former Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang thinks the Catalan giants should move to appoint Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season.

Klopp announced late last month that he will be leaving Anfield at the end of the current season with the German citing tiredness as a key reason for his pending departure.

There have already been lots of rumours about who will replace him at Liverpool, with Xabi Alonso the current favourite, while the German has also been linked with a move to La Liga giants Barcelona.

It is understood Klopp wants to take at least a year’s sabbatical but Spanish transfer expert Gerard Romero insists Barcelona are the only club the Liverpool boss would go straight back into management for with the German up for challenge.

Xavi will leave Barcelona at the end of the current campaign and Aubameyang – who played under Klopp at Borussia Dortmund – thinks the German would be an “incredible” appointment at the Camp Nou.

Aubameyang told JijantesFC on Twitch: “Klopp gives you everything, energy, he has won great titles, he is a good coach. If there is a chance for Barça he is a good option, I was very comfortable with him in Dortmund. It would be incredible if he could come.”

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Respected Liverpool journalist Neil Jones has revealed his reaction to Klopp’s announcement last month, he wrote in his Caught Offside column: “I, like most people, was caught completely on the hop by Klopp’s announcement, and it has been a strange ten days or so since, as everyone comes to terms with the news. ‘Surprised’ is not really the word! ‘Shocked’ would come closer to covering it.

“One thing I’ve learnt from covering Klopp’s time at Liverpool is that we should take him at his word. So when he says he is running out of energy, we should believe him. I can only imagine the amount he has exerted in turning Liverpool into the force it is today, taking on teams of huge means and huge experience at home and abroad.

“He is a manager who feeds off emotion, and who creates it too, and when you do that constantly for eight-and-a-half years, it must take its toll on you. Especially when you finish each season and watch Manchester City get stronger, and the bar gets raised higher and higher.

“Speaking to people since the announcement, they talk about the effect last season had on him. Klopp has, in my eyes, done wonderfully to lift Liverpool after that disappointment, but I am starting to understand why, as this young, exciting side starts to emerge, he may see it as the right time to look after himself and step away.

“Personally, I’d love to see him stay, but who could begrudge him his decision? And if he could go out in style with a trophy or two (or four!) then wouldn’t that just be the perfect end to a beautiful marriage…”

On Bayer Leverkusen boss Alonso being the favourite, he added: “I think Xabi Alonso is the big favourite for the Liverpool job at this stage, and he would be my choice too. There isn’t a ‘guaranteed’ successor to Klopp available, in my eyes.

“Every manager out there, besides Pep Guardiola, comes with a degree of risk. Even seasoned winners like Carlo Ancelotti or Jose Mourinho, or a vastly-experienced coach like Thomas Tuchel or Diego Simeone, would not necessarily be the right fit for Liverpool, and for Liverpool’s squad, culture and supporters.

“I think it’s clear that both Alonso and Roberto De Zerbi are going to manage at the very top level at some point in the future, and so in my opinion the time is right for Liverpool to take the gamble and Alonso’s style of play, personality and past ties with the club make him the stronger candidate, for me.

“What he is doing this season, igniting an underachieving club against the giants of Bayern Munich is, dare I say, a little reminiscent of what Klopp did at Borussia Dortmund, and if he can finish the job off by winning the Bundesliga, it would only add further weight to the argument.

“Another to keep an eye on might be Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim, who I know has a lot of admirers in the Premier League. My question with that one would be; is the Primeira Liga adequate preparation for a job like Liverpool?

“Amorim has done a really good job and has shown an ability to develop both players and a cohesive, winning team, but Anfield would be another level in terms of pressure and expectation.”