‘It’s possible’ - Jurgen Klopp says he could return to the Liverpool job but is backing the current squad and manager

The 58-year-old German quit the current champions in 2024, ending a nine-year spell that reversed the fortunes of the club, including a Champions League triumph and a first league title in 30 years.

The Liverpool legend has diversified into different roles, as head of global soccer with the Red Bull group and in an advisory capacity with the German Football League.

Liverpool won the Premier League last season under their current Dutch manager Arne Slot, but many fans who revere Klopp and his impact on the club would welcome the notion that he may eventually pick up where he left off.

In a wide-ranging interview on The Diary of a CEO podcast, he told the host, Steven Bartlett: “I said I will never coach another team, a different team, in England. So that means if then it’s Liverpool... yeah.

“Theoretically, it’s possible.”

He added: “I’m 58, that means I could make the decision in a few years, I don’t know. Do I have to make the decision today? Then I will not coach again. But thank God, I don’t have to do that. I can just see what the future brings.”

'I think as a manager you constantly face challenges' - Liverpool boss Arne Slot

Pressed on what situation or circumstances would have to occur in order to pull him back to the dugout, Klopp was truthful in admitting that he is not instantly drawn to getting back in midst of the job and all it involves.

“I don’t even know exactly, I love what I do right now,” he said.

“I don’t miss coaching; I don’t miss standing in the rain for two-and-a-half or three hours; I don’t miss going to press conferences four times, three times a week or having 10-12 interviews a week.

“I don’t miss the dressing room as a dressing room, but sitting in a restaurant with the players having a nice chat, that’s nice. We won a lot of games, so there was often a very good mood in the building. I still have Virgil [van Dijk’s] laugh in my ear for example.”

Klopp was full of praise for his successor Slot, crediting him for the tweaks that brought the title last term. However, Liverpool have lost four in a row in all competitions after their home defeat by Manchester United on Sunday.

This follows a summer spending spree, but Klopp rubbished Bartlett’s suggestion that it could be the start of a downward turn.

“You wish!” he told the United fan.

“[They have] an incredible striker in Flo Wirtz, you will all eat your words if you use the wrong words. He’s an incredible talent. [Hugo] Ekitike, incredible player. It’s a really good, well-judged squad.

“You don’t have to worry about Liverpool, they will be fine.”

Klopp spoke emotionally about the death of Diogo Jota, a player he signed in 2020, and its impact on Liverpool. The Portugal international was killed in a car crash alongside his brother in July.

“How do you replace somebody like Diogo? It’s not about the player himself, it’s the guy he was,” Klopp added.

“I can’t imagine the dressing room without him in it, that’s so hard. I still cannot speak properly about it. It was an incredible shock for all the boys as well.

“Nobody at Liverpool will ever use it as an excuse, but it is the situation. You walk in a dressing room where he was omnipresent... dealing with that on a personal level is not easy. Impossible.”

However, Klopp has admitted he was stunned by Liverpool’s summer spending spree that saw them splash out a staggering £450m on new players.

The reigning Premier League champions broke their transfer record twice ahead of the new campaign, acquiring Florian Wirtz for £100m before surpassing the British record to sign Alexander Isak for £125m.

It acted as a departure from the transfer philosophy preached by Klopp during his nine-season tenure at Anfield, with the German previously stating that Liverpool “cannot compete” with clubs like Manchester City, “who can do what they want financially”.

Klopp explained that he never knew Liverpool had the capacity to spend so much.

“I had no clue that this is possible,” he said. “Nobody ever told me that it’s possible that we can spend like that.

“My last year at Liverpool, we obviously [had] the Adidas deal, the new stadium, all these kind of things - they earn more money. But never, ever could I have asked for that amount of money, but that’s not a problem. In that time, it was not there, no problem at all.”

Klopp, who guided Liverpool to a first Premier League title in 30 years as well as a sixth Champions League during his glittering reign, does not regret that the club chose to sacrifice his transfer budget to vastly improve the infrastructure of the club.

“I love the fact that we were as successful as we were and built new stands and built a training ground, because we talk now about a transfer window in the way you want to talk about it, spend a lot of money, but there’s no discussion about the stands and no discussion about the training ground,” he added. “They are second to none. The training ground and the stands are wonderful.

“In the same place where Anfield is, they could build pretty much a new stadium without leaving the old one, so that’s a fantastic story. And that will stay forever.”

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