Jürgen Klopp Talks Life After Liverpool

Headline had you worried for a minute there, huh. Not to fret, Jürgen Klopp, that gegenpressing madman, isn’t bailing out on his Liverpool contract, which I’ll remind you runs until the summer of 2022. No, the ruminations about the Liverpool manager’s future are merely a reponse to questions from Sky Sports Germany, who quizzed Klopp on the rumours of Bayern Munich’s supposed interest in his services a few weeks back, before the Bavarian’s appointed Niko Kovač.

“I’ve never had an exit clause in one of my contracts,” the 50-year old said. “If Bayern had really been interested, no matter what I would have done, this would have been a complicated move.

“I have a contract for four more years in Liverpool and the club are happy with me. That’s why it makes total sense that they (Bayern) didn’t try.”

So that’s a relief. Not that a move to the Bundesliga champions necessarily made much sense in the first place, given Klopp’s seven-year tenure with their rivals Borussia Dortmund. It would appear completely out of character for a man who stays for as long as Klopp does at each club — seven years at both Mainz and Dortmund, and with a Liverpool contract of the same duration — and whose emotions are so tied up in his work and the relationships that follow, to accept a position at a rival club.

Furthermore, Bayern Munic, for all their league titles and Champions League deep runs, don’t fit the profile of the sort of project Klopp has typically favoured. And, of course, there is the fact that young Norbert has no intention of spending the rest of his life on the manager’s bench.

“It’s possible that I will end my career a lot earlier than coaches usually do,” he continued. “It’s very intense.

“I don’t want to die on the coaching bench. After Liverpool I will for sure do a one-year break. That’s a clear agreement with my family.

“I don’t really want to come back. That time was too good. I won’t work as a coach with the age of Jupp Heynckes. I admire what he is doing but I won’t do that.”

A man of clear principle, but we knew that already. Also a man Reds fans, for as much as they enjoy him, will only be able to enjoy for a limited time. Which is to say, if you’re not savouring every moment with this team, this manager, and these players, right now, I suggest you get started. You’re going to miss it when it’s gone.