‘You’re not leaving’
Liverpool have been urged to make Jurgen Klopp reconsider his decision to resign from his role as manager at the end of the season by Richard Keys.
It is approaching a month since Klopp announced his decision to step down at Liverpool in the summer, but his mind had already been made up for a number of weeks before it became public knowledge.
Since Klopp’s announcement, Liverpool have won four of their five games in all competitions. The Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and EFL Cup trophies are all realistic targets before he leaves.
Klopp was supposed to be under contract for another couple of years after this season, but will instead vacate his position for a new manager to come in.
However, beIN Sports presenter Keys has claimed Liverpool should offer Klopp some compromises to how he works in an attempt to keep him at the club.
Keys said: “You know what I would do?
“I’d sit Jurgen Klopp down and I would say, what do you want, because you’re not leaving.
“So tell us how we accommodate what it is that makes this job possible for you to continue in it and we will do that.
“If it means you’ve got to take Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off some weeks that’s fine.
“If you want to live in Mallorca in your big new house that you’re building that’s also fine.
“But you are too big a character in and around this club for us to allow to leave and that’s not happening.
“So you tell us what we can do to make sure going forward that you are happy in this job.”
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What next for Klopp?
Klopp has been in charge of Liverpool since October 2015, making him the longest-serving manager in the Premier League at present.
He won the title with them in 2020 and has been close on another couple of occasions, but they finished outside the top four in a draining season last time out.
Klopp has recharged Liverpool this season and by the time he said he was leaving, they were sitting top of the table.
There is little doubt he will be a hard act to follow at Anfield, whatever he goes on to achieve before the end of the season.
Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is the overwhelming favourite to succeed Klopp thanks to the impressive form his Bayer Leverkusen side have been enjoying in the Bundesliga, which they top by a comfortable margin.
However, it is unlikely Liverpool will be able to appoint someone who has the same pedigree that Klopp already did when they brought the former Borussia Dortmund boss back into work.
Just like he originally intended after leaving Dortmund, Klopp is now preparing for some time away from the game, having ruled out taking on another job next season and any return to the Premier League ever.
There has been speculation about what his next role could be nonetheless, although the chances of him retracting his plan to leave Liverpool seem slim to none, sadly.
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