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According to multiple reports, Jurgen Klopp is as close to a lock as one can get to become Liverpool’s next manager, with a three-year deal and official announcement expected this week. The club promised a decisive and timely search, and to all appearances they have delivered on that.
For his part, Klopp isn’t quite ready to say whether he’s ending his sabbatical and taking over at Anfield, as a meeting with a Bild reporter in Leverkusen on Monday led to a brief and largely noncommittal exchange. It was, though, a brief and noncommittal exchange that seemed at least to confirm that talks were ongoing.
"There’s nothing to say," said the ex-Dortmund man, who had been attending a meeting of German managers at Bayer Leverkusen on Monday afternoon and was caught by a reporter as he left the club’s offices in a jovial mood. "Neither a definite yes or a definite no. I’m going home now."
A definite maybe, then. And if reports are to be believed, the last 24 hours have quite throughly done away with the maybe of the situation. Klopp is believed to be undergoing a second round of discussions with top Liverpool and Fenway Sports Group officials today with expectations for a deal high.
Despite some concerns that FSG’s vote of confidence in the transfer committee earlier this week and a desire to keep it in place could undermine a deal, both sides appear to be amenable to continuing Liverpool’s current set-up—though with Klopp getting final say on whether any transfer goes through.
There continue to be some suggestions that Carlo Ancelotti remains in the picture, but with the club pushing for Klopp as they have and with reports that Klopp has signalled to them that he wants the job, it seems Liverpool’s search for a manager is nearly over. Decisive and timely indeed.
