Paul Gorst writes after Manchester City, fierce rivals to Jurgen Klopp during his time in charge of Liverpool, were found guilty of all charges related to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.
Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp gestures on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on January 3, 2019. Manchester City won the game 2-1. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp gestures to the travelling Kop after his side lost 2-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on January 3, 2019 (Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
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In one of his final interviews as Liverpool manager in May 2024, Jurgen Klopp was asked what he would do if Manchester City were ever found guilty of the 115 financial charges the Premier League were pursuing.
The German took a deep breath, laughed, and after being invited to go off the record if he wished, he then privately revealed the extent of the party he planned to host if that day ever arrived.
Over two years later, it's fair to report that Klopp said he would foot a bar bill that one suspects would run into the thousands, given that everyone at the club was to be invited to the Spanish island of Majorca to celebrate the extension of the Anfield honours' list.
How much more impressive would Klopp's time at Anfield look had Liverpool not been denied by what we now know were "sham" City contracts that were "clearly intended to circumvent the Premier League rules"?
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That, we can now say pending appeal, is the £830m question; the figure City have been told they used to flounce financial rules around commercial revenue between 2009 and 2018.
In some of his more contemplative moments, Klopp's mind might well have wandered to what his haul would look like had a "dishonest" City - to quote the Premier League's 40-page redacted verdict - not been in his path.
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Officially, Klopp's Liverpool are only due potential recognition for the 2016 Carabao Cup, when they were beaten on penalties by Manuel Pellegrini's men.
But artificially inflating income by an average of £100m a year between 2009 and 2018 unquestionably had a knock-on effect for how much Pep Guardiola was able to build up the behemoth that was his City side during his time in Manchester.
Those thoughts might have populated Klopp's head on occasion during his short break away from football but that hiatus has long been over, having returned to football at the start of 2025 as Red Bull's global head of soccer before succeeding Julian Nagelsmann as the Germany national coach after the World Cup.
The legendary former Reds boss has likely had little time to sit around and think about what the Man City verdict means for his own legacy in English football in recent days as he geared up for his first games in his new role.
While the world of English football has been consumed by the fallout of Tuesday's bombshell revelation by the Premier League and its chief executive Richard Masters, Klopp has instead been preparing to take charge of a Germany training session in Herzogenaurach on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's Nations League visit from Serbia.
Klopp will speak to the media in Bavaria on Wednesday evening and it will be fascinating to see how any City-related questions are answered by the sort of coach who has never been backwards in coming forward on matters he feels strongly about.
The 2018/19 campaign was where the Premier League drew the line regarding its investigation into City's financial chicanery, but Klopp and Liverpool as a whole are entitled to question if their achievements back then should now be viewed in an even more embellished light on the back of the news this week.
When John Stones cleared off the line to deny Sadio Mane in a game at the Etihad in January 2019, just 11mm of the ball remained within the width of the painted grass to ensure there was no goal.
It was a stunning clearance that spoke to the very heart of the idea of fine margins at the very sharp end of the game, particularly concerning City and Liverpool at the time.
Leroy Sane eventually struck the winning goal in the second half to condemn Klopp's Reds to their first and only defeat of a campaign that saw them finish with 97 points and silver medals all round.
Three weeks later, having lost out on a 19th league title on the final day of the campaign, Liverpool picked themselves up and won their sixth European Cup by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in Madrid.
Jurgen Klopp lifts the Champions League after Liverpool's win in the final against Tottenham Hotspur
Jurgen Klopp lifts the Champions League after Liverpool's win in the final against Tottenham Hotspur (Image: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
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It's testament to the mentality instilled into the group by Klopp, his coaching staff and the dressing-room leaders of the time that they could dust themselves off after earning the most points of any team to ever finish second before going on to win the Champions League later that month.
Those with less intestinal fortitude might have choked under the lights of the Wanda Metropolitano on June 1 of that year.
But the 2018/19 term for Liverpool deserves to be viewed even more glowingly now. Even if Klopp himself might stop short of saying it, his side might well have been even more successful had it not been for the wheeling and dealing behind the Etihad scenes.
Victory, rather than defeat, in January 2019 could have cemented Liverpool as the 'Invincible Centurions' - the first-ever team to have earned 100 points without defeat. Throw in the small matter of the Champions League triumph and there is an argument that Klopp built the greatest team of the modern Premier League era, fairly and squarely.
That, perhaps, is the true legacy that has been stolen from Klopp-era Liverpool.
And if that sounds like a convoluted and contrived argument, it would feel right at home with much of what we have seen these past few days from the Blue half of Manchester.
The truth is there no real way to quantify what has been lost from the "sham" of the near decade-long period in question. But it's open season now as City, who deny all charges, batten down the hatches and prepare the inevitable appeal.
Whatever happens next, it feels as though the end-game is nearing in this tawdry, and ultimately shameful period of English football.
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Somewhere, there's a bar in Majorca with a tab now open. The day Klopp and his guestlist arrive there might just be nearing.
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