COME HOME, JURGEN
Germany boss Nagelsmann’s contract ends after Euros... now national football vice-president says: Klopp’s brilliant – he’d be great coach for us!
JURGEN KLOPP’S plan to take a year away from football after leaving Liverpool in the summer is set to be tested – by an offer to coach Germany after the Euros.
Klopp insists that he needs a break from the game to recharge his batteries after more than eight energy-sapping years at Anfield – and has hinted that he may even walk away for good.
But he is seen as a natural to take charge of Germany’s national team in his homeland – and the DFB vice-president Ronny Zimmermann has revealed that the 56-year-old former Borussia Dortmund boss will be in the frame for the job.
Current Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann’s contract is set to expire after they host this summer’s tournament.
Zimmermann said: “I don’t think we need to talk about the fact Jurgen is a brilliant coach.
“We also don’t have to talk about the fact that he could also be a candidate for national coach – but the time for making wishes like these was Christmas.
“After the European Championship, we will talk about the national coach, and not about what we might wish for.
“But I could well live with Jurgen Klopp, like many others, I think.”
Nagelsmann was put in temporary charge following his departure from Bayern Munich, after Hansi Flick was sacked from the Germany job in the aftermath of a 4-1 defeat by Japan last September. Flick’s side had been eliminated from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the group stages – fresh German trauma, after Joachim Low’s outfit had been knocked out at the first hurdle in 2018.
Klopp had intended to take a 12-month sabbatical in 2015 after he had quit Dortmund. But when Liverpool approached him just five months later, he was unable to resist the lure of Anfield.
He is adamant that this time
he will stick to his plan to take an extended period out – even if his country does come calling.
Former Reds midfielder Xabi Alonso is front-runner to succeed Klopp at Anfield.
Bayer Leverkusen chief executive Fernando Carro has rejected claims that boss Alonso has a clause in his contract that would allow him to walk out to join former clubs Liverpool, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
But it is understood that there is a verbal agreement for the 42-year-old Spaniard to pursue a new challenge if the right offer was made. Alonso has a big reputation in the game already after fewer than two seasons as a coach. Last season, he guided Leverkusen into Europe and they are proving a big threat to Bayern’s hopes of winning a 12th successive Bundesliga crown, after an 18-game unbeaten start to the
campaign. Alonso is also viewed at Manchester City as a potential successor to boss Pep Guardiola when the Catalan opts to leave.
City had looked at Alonso as a possible assistant to his former Bayern boss Guardiola back when Mikel Arteta left for Arsenal.
But Alonso decided he wanted to pursue a path that would make him a No.1 sooner.
And it is also understood that he realised a spell at the Etihad would damage his long-term prospects of eventually returning to Liverpool.
» NEWCASTLE manager Eddie Howe is a surprise name on Liverpool’s shortlist to replace Jurgen Klopp in the summer.
Although Xabi Alonso is the odds-on favourite, a source close to the club’s hierarchy says they have been impressed by the way that Howe has conducted affairs at St James’ Park since the Saudi takeover.
He was on their radar as an upand-coming young manager when Brendan Rodgers was sacked in 2015 – before the Reds plumped for Klopp.