Jurgen Klopp is the favourite with the bookmakers to replace Arne Slot at Liverpool – but the Dutchman yesterday vowed to fight on after talks with the Anfield hierarchy
Jurgen Klopp has been linked with a stunning return to Anfield amid Arne Slot's struggles
Jurgen Klopp has been linked with a stunning return to Anfield amid Arne Slot's struggles
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Arne Slot is to 'fight on' as Liverpool head coach after talks with the Reds' hierarchy - although Jurgen Klopp is 'hovering over Anfield'. Liverpool's 4-1 Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night left them in their worst run of form in over 70 years.
After starting their Premier League title defence with five straight wins – and their season, post-Community Shield, with seven – the Reds then lost four in a row and have not recovered since. As a result of his side’s poor run of form, Slot is now under huge pressure to turn things around.
Jurgen Klopp is the overriding favourite with the bookmakers to make a sensational return to Anfield just over a year after he left. The German won the Champions League in 2019 before leading Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years a year later.
Covering the links in the German publication BILD, experienced journalist Marcel Reif has claimed: “Liverpool isn’t just in a mess. It’s practically burned to the ground!
“The timing of this statement (Klopp on Diary of a CEO) is terrible for Slot. He’s hovering over Anfield like a UFO. All of Liverpool would carry him back on their shoulders. And it would be negligent if they didn’t try to bring Klopp back.
“In Liverpool, the scar from his departure is far from healed. I don’t know what it’s like being Global Head of Soccer and whether you ever start to wonder, ‘Is this really me?’
“He was exhausted after that time. It took its toll. Now he looks very rested. Almost as if Arne Slot has to watch out…”
Reif's comments come just days after Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness claimed that Klopp will not remain in his Red Bull role for the long term. He said: “I could never imagine him as an official travelling around the country, to New York, looking after the various teams. And I don’t think that will be a good model in the long run. I also don’t think he’ll do that forever, I can’t imagine it.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot
Liverpool boss Arne Slot is coming under increasing scrutiny
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"I have always admired Jurgen Klopp as a coach who is on the pitch, who develops a team, who moves a team forward with his personality. I see Jurgen Klopp on the pitch and nowhere else.”
It was reported by The Sun on Thursday that Liverpool could ask Klopp to return to Anfield to take over until the end of the season if Slot is dismissed. The newspaper claims PSG manager Luis Enrique is the club's long-term target.
Klopp, who has taken on roles as head of global soccer with the Red Bull group and in an advisory capacity with the German Football League since leaving Anfield, said it is "theoretically possible" that he could one day return as Liverpool manager during a recent appearance on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast.
He said: "I said I will never coach another team, a different team, in England. So that means if then it's Liverpool... yeah. Theoretically it's possible."
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