The Italian football media this morning is in surprise mixed with a hefty dollop of confusion. That’s because on Monday evening, La Stampa – one of the country’s biggest newspapers – published an article which states Jurgen Klopp has said yes to taking over at AS Roma.
Klopp left Liverpool a year ago, and after saying he was going to take something of a hiatus following his Anfield exit, he then quickly took up a role with the Red Bull group. There’s been mixed reporting on how that’s been going for everyone involved, and now it’s claimed he’s set for his first job since Liverpool.
Claudio Ranieri came out of retirement to steer Roma until the end of the season and is set to return to his days of leisure.
The key part of La Stampa’s report is the following: ‘Giallorossa smoke. Served on a plate of social media. From the company. The video that you can see by clicking on the link says it all. The initials of the monuments appear in sequence. Kolosseum. Lupa. Olimpico. Pietro San. Pantheon. The choice was made some time ago but the person in question had given a word to another club that had to change ownership. And since the person in question is always a serious man, on Sunday 18 May at 22:57 he said yes. It is Jurgen Klopp.’
It is, to be frank, bizarre reporting, and that would stand even if the claims were true.
Jurgen Klopp’s agent is said to have already denied that the manager has agreed to take over at AS Roma, so now the question is what on earth prompted a La Stampa journalist to write such a cryptic article about the Liverpool legend late on Monday evening.