Fabrizio Romano has addressed rumours regarding Jurgen Klopp’s next move after he steps aside as Liverpool manager at the end of this season.
Just as speculation continues to abound over who’ll take over at Anfield – with many punters placing wagers on the outcome in online casinos Asia – there’s also been plenty of discourse as to where the 56-year-old will end up next.
He’s found himself strongly linked with the Germany national team job, with incumbent Julian Nagelsmann currently set to vacate the role after Euro 2024, but the Italian reporter doesn’t envisage the current Reds boss taking charge of his country any time soon.
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In his Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside on Monday, Romano wrote: “We inevitably keep hearing more speculation about Jurgen Klopp’s future after he leaves Liverpool this summer, with some rumours about the German national team job for 2026.
“The only thing I know for sure right now is that Klopp is not intending to speak to any club or national team now – no chance. Germany have Julian Nagelsmann now, a top coach, so their full focus on the Euros and we will see after that. But for sure Klopp won’t negotiate anything now or this summer, no way.”
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When Klopp announced towards the end of January that he’d be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, he attributed his decision to ‘running out of energy’. With those words in mind, it’s hard to imagine him going straight into another job after his time at Anfield comes to an end.
He’s worked virtually non-stop in football management since 2001, so it’s wholly understandable that he feels a break is needed, just as Pep Guardiola took a one-year sabbatical between his stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
As a German, the 56-year-old is likely to view taking charge of his national team as a huge honour, but the timing will inevitably be a critical factor.
Even though international jobs don’t carry the same relentlessness in terms of fixtures as managing a club, the Nationalmannschaft gig is one of the most pressurised in world football, especially at a time when Germany have flopped at several major tournaments in succession.
The flip side is that, should they disappoint again at Euro 2024 and Nagelsmann makes way, his successor may view the role as an opportunity to awaken one of the sport’s sleeping giants, rather than having a tall order to follow (something that Klopp’s successor at Liverpool will have to negotiate).
There’s every chance that we see the current Reds boss in a dugout again, but Romano’s assertion indicates that it won’t be any time soon once his tenure at Anfield concludes.