Jürgen Klopp on Kylian Mbappe, Jadon Sancho, and Not “Creating Headlines”

Over the years, Jürgen Klopp has worked with some of the top players in Germany and now England. But what of the likes of some of the sport’s biggest names, like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, and Kylian Mbappe?

That was the question put the Liverpool boss by BeinIN Sport this week, as the broadcaster quizzed Klopp on whether he ever daydreams about the chance to coach stars on other teams—with those four in particular mentioned by name.

“I cannot answer those kinds of questions without creating headlines the next day,” Klopp laughed. “I know that’s what I don’t want to do. I love them all and there’s a few more players out there. They are all exceptional players.

“But where is Neymar on that list? There are so many good players. Mbappe has the biggest future, and we can speak about Jadon Sancho as well—they’re coming up. I love watching them but I have no problem that I never trained them.”

Klopp was also quick to point out that he’s worked in the past with Robert Lewandowski, by any standard one of the game’s best strikers. Plus he’s currently working with a pair of attackers most would consider global superstars.

“Sadio Mane is young enough and Mo Salah is young enough to be in that group for the next few years,” the German manager noted. “I am completely happy with the boys that I have, so I never thought about the others.”

Still, despite that—and despite his stated goal to avoid making headlines—Klopp couldn’t help but leave things open ended when it came to the chance that he might one day get the chance to manage one of the named players.

“When I am at a club then I work with the players I have,” he added. “I don’t dream about other players. If we can get one of them in the future, we will see, but we always make the best of the situation we have.”