Jurgen Klopp left Liverpool in 2024 and has since taken up a role as Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull, but the legendary manager has repeatedly been linked with a return to management
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has admitted he has no intention of returning to the dugout as he doesn’t yearn for any aspect of his previous coaching career.
Klopp, 58, departed the Reds following the conclusion of the 2023/24 campaign after a triumphant nine-year spell at Anfield, breaking the club’s 30-year wait for a Premier League crown and securing the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup among other prestigious pieces of silverware.
Throughout his tenure on Merseyside, Klopp claimed victory in 299 matches and drew 108 of his 491 games in charge, boasting a remarkable 60.9% success rate. In terms of silverware collected, Klopp ranks as Liverpool’s fourth-most successful manager in history, trailing only Kenny Dalglish, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.
Following his Anfield exit, Klopp enjoyed a brief sabbatical from football before accepting the position of Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull, the company behind clubs including Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig, in January 2025.
Nine months have elapsed since Klopp began his Red Bull role and nearly 16 since he bid farewell to Liverpool. Yet despite boasting a 23-year managerial pedigree prior to that, Klopp harbours no nostalgia for life on the touchline.
Speaking to The Athletic about whether he found himself glued to televised matches last season, Klopp responded: “Not. At. All. I was super happy with the way Liverpool performed. I watched some games. But it is not like, ‘Oh, it’s Saturday!”.
“I didn’t know when games started. I was just out.
“I played sports. We enjoyed life, spent time with the grandkids, completely normal stuff, knowing I will work again. But knowing as well, that I don’t want to work as a coach anymore.
“That’s what I think,” Klopp clarified when asked to double down on not coaching every again. “But you don’t know. I’m 58. If I started again at 65, everybody will say, ‘You said you’ll never do it again’ Er, sorry, I thought 100 per cent (when I said it)! That is what I think now. I don’t miss anything.”
The former Reds boss had been touted for a surprising switch to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Ittihad following the dismissal of ex-Manchester United legend Laurent Blanc after just four games of the new campaign.
Reports from Saudi publication arriyadiyah.com suggested the German was the Jeddah club’s preferred candidate to lead their project forward. The side believed his high-energy approach would be perfect for their squad.
Though Klopp has no plans to return to the dugout, he’s relishing his fresh position with Red Bull despite criticism from supporters of his former club Mainz when the appointment was revealed earlier this year.
“I knew it (would come),” Klopp reflected on the hostile response and protest banners from Mainz supporters and others. “I’m German. I know what people in Germany think about the involvement of Red Bull in football. They love Red Bull. In all departments. But in football? No. So whatever, they want to do it that way.
“Funnily enough, it was only in Germany where the reaction was like that. But that’s fine – no problem. Everybody can think what they want. You just have to accept that I do what I want as long as I don’t hurt anybody.
“By the way, I don’t expect people to remember what I did for a specific club. The people in Mainz in the stadium now… they were little kids when I was there (1990-2001 as a player, then seven years as a coach), so their parents had to tell them who I was. So that’s how it is, it is absolutely fine.
“I don’t expect everybody to like what I do. I have to do it for the right reasons – for my right reasons. By the way, in Liverpool, people are overly happy that I do what I do because I am not coaching another team.”
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