‘You’re not leaving’ – Liverpool told to block Klopp’s exit with offers to ‘accommodate’ tired manager
Liverpool have been encouraged to make a couple of outlandish offers to ‘accommodate’ Jurgen Klopp so he would stay on as manager beyond this season.
Klopp announced at the end of last month that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of this season.
His Liverpool contract is not due to expire until 2026 but he is leaving early as he is ‘tired’ and in need of a sabbatical.
Liverpool are on track to make sure Klopp’s farewell season is a special one as they are top of the Premier League and face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final this weekend. They also remain in contention for the Europa League and FA Cup.
Bayern Munich and Barcelona have been mentioned as potential next destinations for Klopp and while he’s expected to return to management at some stage, he has claimed that retirement is an option.
“If you ask me, ‘Will you ever work as a manager again?’ I would say now no,” Klopp told LFC TV.
“But I don’t know obviously how that will feel because I never had the situation. What I know definitely – I will never, ever manage a different club in England than Liverpool, 100 per cent.
“That’s not possible. My love for this club, my respect for the people is too big. I couldn’t. I couldn’t for a second think about it. There’s no chance.”
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Richard Keys thinks Liverpool should let Klopp work part-time and “live in Mallorca” if it would tempt him to stay on as manager.
“You know what I would do?” Keys said on BeIN Sports. “I’d sit Jurgen Klopp down and I would say, what do you want because you’re not leaving.
“So tell us how we accommodate what it is that makes this job possible for you to continue in it and we will do that.
“If it means you’ve got to take Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off some weeks that’s fine. If you want to live in Mallorca in your big new house that you’re building that’s also fine.
“But you are too big a character in and around this club for us to allow to leave and that’s not happening. So you tell us what we can do to make sure going forward that you are happy in this job.”
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Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso is the clear favourite to replace Klopp and he could help his current team win the Bundesliga before leaving in the summer.
Following Bayern Munich’s poor 3-2 loss to Bochum on Sunday, Leverkusen are eight points clear of Thomas Tuchel’s side.
Klopp has lauded Alonso who is the “standout” of the “next generation” of elite-level coaches.
“The next generation is already there and I would say Xabi is a standout in that department,” Klopp told reporters.
“Former world-class player, from a coaching family as well which helps a little, he was like a coach already when he was playing. The football he is playing, the teams he sets up, the transfers he did, it is absolutely exceptional.”
