Liverpool confirmed on Friday that head coach Jurgen Klopp will bid farewell to the club at the end of the current season and the announcement has given birth to rumours of the German finding a new club.
Klopp joined the Merseyside club in 2015 after previous manager Brendan Rodgers was sacked and the German soon became the club’s legend as he helped them win the Premier League for the first time since 1990.
Top clubs in Europe like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester United may find themselves in need of a new man to lead at the end of the season and with Klopp’s availability, strong competition is expected between the clubs.
While a return to the Bundesliga cannot be ruled out as things aren’t going too well for Thomas Tuchel at Munich, a new experience in La Liga may be tempting for the German.
Here are the clubs interested in acquiring Klopp’s services
FC Barcelona
The situation at Barcelona isn’t too pleasant for their boss Xavi Hernandez as the Blaugrana suffered a humiliating 4-1 loss against arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup and were knocked out of Copa del Rey (CDR) after losing to Atheltic Bilbao 4-2 recently. Not only that, their position in the league isn’t too good and the chances of winning UCL are thin.
Xavi is also having trouble managing the dressing room and not so long ago Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta declared Klopp to Barca a “dream move”.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid were reportedly interested in bringing Klopp to the Santiago Bernabeu after sacking Carlo Ancelotti in 2015 following a trophyless season. Although that could not be the case as Madrid have already won a trophy this season, their recent CDR exit and thin squad depth can pose problems for the Italian.
Los Blancos are competing with Girona for the league title and they will take on RB Leipzig in the UCL round of 16.
Madrid renewed Ancelotti’s contract not so long ago and, as of now, the Italian’s job is safe but at Madrid, it doesn’t take too long for the tide to turn.
Bayern Munich
Four points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen, with apparent dressing room problems and crashing out of DFB-Pokal in November, there is a high chance that Bayern Munich may go trophyless this season and that won’t be good news for Thomas Tuchel, who is already under strict scrutiny by the Bayern board.
Although Klopp’s history with Borussia Dortmund may force him not to take the job at Munich, in football anything is possible.
Even though there is heavy demand of Klopp as he is one of the best managers in the world, it wouldn't come as a surprise if he decides to take a gap year as taking on any of the above-mentioned clubs would be a challenging job, one that the German may not take after competing with Pep Guardiola's Manchester City for eight years.
Wasay Qayyum Wasay Qayyum is a sports journalist at Geo Super.