9 months ago
173 Jurgen Klopp may well be replaced by another German at Liverpool.
Klopp’s January announcement that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season sent shockwaves through the game.
How do you follow Klopp’s work at Anfield? Even if you take out the Premier League and Champions League success, his emotional connection to the Liverpool fanbase is difficult to replace.
Liverpool could go down the route of appointing Xabi Alonso, a man who already has a rapport with Reds fans from his time as a player.
Luring Alonso away from Bayer Leverkusen won’t be easy though and Liverpool may now look to replace Klopp with a manager he actually praised…
Jurgen Klopp’s past comments on Julian Nagelsmann
Reports from The Telegraph suggest that Liverpool are now shortlisting Julian Nagelsmann as a potential alternative to Alonso.
The former Bayern Munich boss is currently in charge of the German national team, but will be leaving at the end of Euro 2024.
That could pave the way for Liverpool to land Nagelsmann and he may even come with Klopp’s approval.
Nagelsmann emerged with Hoffenheim and even faced Klopp’s Liverpool in a Champions League play-off back in 2017.
Klopp offered enormous praise to Nagelsmann, who was just 31 at the time of their clash.
Klopp, as quoted the Bundesliga website, called Nagelsmann a ‘big, big, big coaching talent’ and admitted that he had been following his approach and even exchanging messages.
“[He is a] big, big, big coaching talent,” said Klopp. “We don’t know each other very well because we didn’t really have time – when I left Germany I think he was an U19 coach or something like this. But since then, we have written messages and things like this. I’ve really followed his way since then because I like good football and obviously his team is playing interesting and good football. He’s not the only one but he’s a good example for a lot of really good young managers in Germany. It’s an interesting time on the manager market in Germany at this moment,” he added.
That was a long time ago but Klopp praised Nagelsmann earlier this season too, just before he was appointed as the Germany manager.
“I think Julian is a really great solution because he’s a great coach. I would be very happy if it happened. Age? It doesn’t matter at all. He had already proven at 28 that he’s a fantastic coach. He has 8 years of experience. Others have that at 45 or 50 — at the highest level. That’s no criterion at all,” he added.
Klopp has admired Nagelsmann’s work for a while now and if the current Liverpool boss has any say in naming his own successor, Nagelsmann could be the one.
That may leave fans fearing a repeat of Sir Alex Ferguson picking David Moyes to replace him, but Nagelsmann is a fascinating contender for the Liverpool job with interest now mounting.
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