'I will go': 41-year-old now says he definitely won't replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager

9 months ago 168

Liverpool are on the hunt for a new manager to replace Jurgen Klopp, and a number of names have been linked with the job already.

The German announced last month that he will be stepping down at the end of this season. FSG are hard at work to replace Klopp now, but one man who is not interested in becoming the next Liverpool manager is his assistant, Pep Lijnders.

Pep Lijnders Liverpool Jurgen Klopp
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Pep Lijnders says he doesn’t want to become Liverpool’s next manager

Replacing Jurgen Klopp is an extremely difficult job for those involved at Liverpool.

The German is one of the best managers the Premier League has ever seen, and he will leave huge boots to fill at Anfield when he departs at the end of the season.

The best way for Liverpool to move forward, ideally, would be to bring in someone who shares a similar philosophy to Klopp.

Assistant manager Pep Lijnders, who knows everything about the German, is a decent option on paper, but the 41-year-old has now ruled himself out. He says he wants to leave Liverpool and manage elsewhere.

Lijnders said, as per Liverpool Echo: “We knew already in the summer that we are coming toward the end of this project. The last years, I got offers. My heart always said yes, my loyalty and my respect and friendship with Mike and Jurgen said no.

“So, the moment we spoke and he (Klopp) said ‘I’m thinking about (leaving)’ I said that is, for me, clear: I will go and manage. We will end this project together. I feel that it’s the project of a lot of people and I feel that it’s the right way to do it, like this.

“The club can find a new coach with new elements. But I’m excited to manage, I’m excited to go, to find the right club who really wants (me). But until the last final of the season, I’m focused on Liverpool, not on what’s happening now. That’s why we have agents, no?”

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Pep Lijnders Liverpool Jurgen Klopp
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Lijnders is right to look for a different job

Pep Lijnders would’ve learnt a lot from Jurgen Klopp over the years at Liverpool.

The 41-year-old tried his luck with management for a few months at NEC Nijmegen back in 2018, but that didn’t quite work out. He returned to Liverpool that summer and has helped the Reds massively since.

Now, Lijnders has made it clear that he wants to become a manager again, and we think he’s right to rule himself out of becoming the next Liverpool manager.

It makes a lot of sense for him to go elsewhere to a club where he won’t have to fill the shoes of someone as big as Klopp. That pressure would make his job so difficult.

It will be interesting to see where Lijnders will end up after leaving Liverpool. We’re sure he has a great career ahead of him as a manager.

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