Klopp plots his Kop exit in 2024
JURGEN KLOPP has confirmed he intends to leave Liverpool in 2024 and will consider staying only if he has the energy for the challenge. The German has revolutionised Liverpool in six and a half years at the club and his appetite for lifting more trophies is bigger than ever following last Sunday’s Carabao Cup triumph, which he likened to winning the Champions League.
Klopp is at the top of his game, mentally and physically, but he addressed the idea of whether he is intending to go on and on in the hot-seat yesterday by making it clear that his thoughts are based on walking away when his contract ends in two years.
He signed his last deal in December 2019 but, as things stand, there will not be another extension to his terms.
‘If I have the energy levels for it is important,’ said Klopp. ‘I love what I do but there must be something else out there in the world apart form always thinking about very well-skilled, good looking, fantastically nice players! But I really don’t think about it.
‘I’m full of energy but I have to make sure that is the case (in the future). I don’t want to sit around and be more tired and think, “Wow! Why is everyone bothered about the things out there because I couldn’t care less?” ’
This all feels significant because this is the first time Klopp has spoken at length about there being an end in sight. His initial plan was to stay for seven years — as he did at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund — but he penned that five-year extension in 2019 after Liverpool had won their sixth European Cup.
Should he get to June 2024,
Klopp will become the club’s longest-serving manager since Bob Paisley, who was in charge from 1974 to 1983.
His priority at present is cutting the gap on Manchester City in the title race but he has promised that when the time comes for him to move on, whoever succeeds him will walk into a club that has the strongest foundations.
‘When I talk about a plan, I mean for the future of the club,’ said Klopp. ‘My future will be OK. I don’t have to plan. I could book last minute — let’s put it like this. It is not a problem.
‘The things we do, they are for a long, long time. So many things we’ve tried to improve over the years. At the beginning, a lot of people thought I was from Germany and we’d do it like the Germans but that’s not the case.
‘I was 20 years nearly working in Germany but I never thought: “Oh my God! We are perfect, we should bring all that stuff to other countries!” No, just doing the right things, employing the right people in the right positions.
‘It doesn’t mean you win the title. It means you have the right people for the right job. That’s what we try and these people — a lot of them here at the moment — will be good. It will be fine whenever it will be after I leave. The plan is 2024, thank you very much.’