Jurgen Klopp has been out of management since leaving Liverpool in 2024 and has been linked with a number of top jobs, but he has two key demands for his next role
Legendary Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has already stated clearly he wouldn’t take charge of a football club driven by commercial considerations. The 58-year-old has remained away from touchline duties since leaving Anfield in 2024.
During his almost nine years at the helm of the Reds, Klopp etched his legacy into the club’s history books with a Premier League and Champions League triumph, amongst other trophies. He departed voluntarily nearly two years ago.
Since then, he has been constantly linked with a dugout return and presently serves as Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer. It has also emerged that prior to accepting the Anfield position, clubs including Manchester United and Real Madrid allegedly pursued him unsuccessfully.
Whilst the prospect of the German’s managerial comeback persists, he has stated emphatically that any side he leads must not prioritise commercial aspects excessively or permit excessive boardroom interference. This might have derailed United and Los Blancos’ rumoured previous approaches, reports the Mirror.
Speaking in 2018 about why he chose to join Liverpool, Klopp said: “I love the history. I really am a football romantic. I knew I probably can help. They maybe really need me, in this time. I know what I’m good at.
“When they told me about the problems they had I thought, ‘OK, yeah, I am probably the really right manager for that club’. They took me like I am, they didn’t ask me to do anything else, so I could focus from the first day completely on football.
“It is a football club. A FOOTBALL club. I had talks with other clubs and they didn’t sound like a football club. It sounded like marketing, image, you need to sign this, you need to sign that. And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s not the game I love’.”
Just one year afterwards, former Reds striker Robbie Fowler revealed a discussion he’d had with Klopp, illuminating alleged interest from Real Madrid and United alongside his principles.
Fowler said: “I did an interview with him a couple of years ago and he told me he turned down a couple of super-rich clubs after Dortmund – one of them was definitely Manchester United and the other was probably Real Madrid.
“Because he hated how they were focused solely on commercial influences. He said he liked Liverpool because they had a balance between the money needed to reach the top and the history and identity of the club and their fans.”
These criteria are already established for any team that might wish to approach Klopp in the future for a managerial role. However, the German has insisted he won’t ever manage another English club apart from Liverpool.
He declared in 2024: “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. This is part of my life, we are part of the family, we feel at home here. There’s no chance to do that.”