Jurgen Klopp won't be returning to management, his agent says, but the Liverpool legend is on the verge of confirming someone else as a coach as part of his Red Bull role
13:32, 08 Jun 2026
Jurgen Klopp during a Red Bull unveiling in New York
Jurgen Klopp during a Red Bull unveiling in New York(Image: Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Liverpool legend Jurgen Klopp won't be returning to coaching with Al Ittihad, his agent has insisted, despite fresh speculation surrounding the German and Saudi Arabia.
Instead, though, he is cracking on with the job in hand in his current role as head of global soccer at Red Bull. Klopp's exact job specification is not perfectly defined, but he acts as a kind of advisor on various sporting matters.
And according to Fabrizio Romano, former Liverpool boss Klopp is on the verge of appointing Narcis Pelach as the new head coach of Omiya Ardija, the club that Red Bull controls in Japan.
The German is said to have led the process to bring in the coach who will sign a two-year contract.
Pelach has previously managed in England, but lasted only three months at Stoke, where he won just three of 19 games in charge.
He has also worked at Girona as an assistant coach and was also on the West Ham staff during Graham Potter's stint at the London Stadium, where he was very highly rated.
Klopp has no interest in returning to coaching anytime soon
Klopp has no interest in returning to coaching anytime soon(Image: Ricardo Moreira/Getty Images)
"Pep Guardiola is my coaching hero," Pelach said during his time with West Ham.
"I was very lucky to have been given the chance to see some of the training sessions that he was doing at Manchester City, because City and Girona have the same ownership, so I could go there when I was a head coach of Girona B and learn from him.
"I just feel that he's the best coach that football has ever seen, and the number of trophies that he has won, I would say that it has been a reference for me."
Klopp was linked with Al Ittihad again over the weekend despite those claims being played down of late.
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"I am annoyed by all this bulls--t," Marc Kosicke, his representative, is quoted as telling WinWin. "It's all annoying and nonsense."
Liverpool.com says: It is not hard to envisage Klopp taking charge of the German national team one day, but he is clearly enjoying a more backseat role within the game.
Exactly how much say he had on the Pelach appointment remains to be seen, but while there will always be interest from clubs in hiring him as a coach, so far, nothing has proven enticing enough to encourage him to return to that side of the game.