Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
If there is anyone whose reaction Liverpool fans would want to see to the news that Man City were being found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial regulations, it would have been Jurgen Klopp.
The legendary former Reds boss was coming off the back of his managerial debut with the German national team on Friday, and with his team set to face Greece on Sunday, we will no doubt hear Klopp‘s views on the matter soon enough.
There is arguably nobody in the world of football who was robbed of more by City and their rule-breaking than the Liverpool legend, but although he will never be able to live the moments and win the trophies they took from him, Klopp’s legacy as the man who went toe-to-toe with a cheating, lying machine for so many years will be completely and totally enhanced. Whatever happens to City, Jurgen will come out smelling fresher than ever.
Klopp’s Liverpool now look even better
While City have never had the respect of the wider English footballing community because of the way their success has been built, it could at least be conceded that Pep Guardiola’s team were one of the best to ever grace the Premier League.
They remain the only team ever to hit 100 points – in 2017/18 – while they also hit 90+ in 2018/19, 2021/22 and 2023/24. They were a special group, there is no denying that.
However, the confirmation that it was officially all built on flagrant disregard for rules which other clubs were abiding by hugely devalues all of those achievements. Perhaps it is unfair on the players, maybe even on Guardiola himself, but whatever records City have smashed over the years will forever now be seen in a different, massively tainted light.
As for Liverpool and Klopp, they matched City all the way and did it while playing by the book. Long before the days when the Reds were spending £100m+ on individual players fairly regularly, they were sticking tightly to a ‘sell-to-buy’ model in the transfer market, meaning they had to be smart with their money. Thankfully, they were, but every signing who walked through the door at Anfield was also improved because of Klopp.
READ MORE: Liverpool fans come up with some inventive ways to punish Man City’s Premier League rule breaches
The German built a ridiculous team of relentless winners who were only stopped, domestically at least, by a team who systematically broke each and every financial rule they could.
City fans will argue that football matches are won on the pitch by players, not off it by accountants and executives, and while that is obviously true to a degree, cheats never look good in the sporting history books, and while Guardiola’s genius and the brilliance of players like Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero, to name only two, should not be ignored, the facts are that people will now see things differently.
Klopp was always the main opponent of City, Guardiola admitted that many times, but such is the 59-year-old’s personality and his footballing philosophy, he will surely come to be seen as absolute antithesis of their deception; the antidote to a rotten club bulldozing their way to the top.
If things had been fair and equal from the moment City began breaking the rules in 2009, there is no way they would have been anywhere near Liverpool by the time Klopp came onto the scene. Another challenger may have emerged, but for the way he rebuilt the Reds and turned them into a winning machine, the former Borussia Dortmund boss deserved to dominate the Premier League.
To earn 97, 99 and 92 points across four seasons should have been enough to win three league titles. That it bore only one will forever rankle Liverpool fans, but at least they did it all fairly. To reach so high without relying on some dodgy accounting reflected extremely well on Klopp at the time, but in light of new revelations, it now looks even better.
In time, there may be an argument that the Liverpool team he sculpted between 2018 and 2022 was actually the greatest the Premier League has ever seen. Without City’s nonsense, that would be indisputable, and though Klopp would probably rather have the medals and the memories, given the man he is, that may just be good enough for him.