Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he was offered the Germany national team job in 2023 and has now explained why he chose to remain at Liverpool.
Having added another Carabao Cup to the Reds’ cabinet and pushed until April for the Premier League title, Jurgen Klopp left Liverpool in 2024.
It had been an emotional few months of counting down to the day of his last game, but had he taken a job opportunity the previous summer, we may never have experienced that farewell tour.
Speaking to Die Welt about the summer of 2023, Klopp said: “Germany was looking for a new national coach.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, May 5, 2024: Liverpool's manager Jürgen Klopp waves to supporters after the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield. Liverpool won 4-2. (Photo by Ryan Brown/Propaganda)
“I could have said yes because it might have been better to do something different. I didn’t want to.
“And the decision was not about the job of the national coach itself, I couldn’t leave Liverpool like that. There was a team, there were people with whom I had a relationship.
“I’ve never been so cold not to remember the good things I said to a player a week earlier.”
Liverpool had just finished fifth and failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2017.
The Reds were rebuilding their midfield and Klopp wanted to ensure he left the club in a good state upon his departure.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, October 21, 2023: Players and supporters stand for a moment's silence before the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Everton FC, the 243rd Merseyside Derby, at Anfield. Liverpool won 2-0. Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté, goalkeeper Alisson Becker, captain Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister, Diogo Jota, Ryan Gravenberch, Luis Díaz, Kostas Tsimikas. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“We had brought in new players like Endo, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai and Mac Allister,” the German continued.
“With them and the core team, I wanted to fix it again. That was important to me. We managed to do that. Nevertheless, the decision to stop at Liverpool materialised.
“I communicated this internally early on, until we went public in January, also at the request of the owners.
“You talk about a perfect handover, but there are others who say that perhaps Liverpool would have become champions if we had only made it public later.
“But for me it felt right, just like it did back then in Mainz and later in Dortmund.”
Jurgen Klopp’s contact with Liverpool is “very good”
While there were fears over the future beyond Klopp, fate and a large dose of Arne Slot‘s genius have ensured everything has turned rosy for Liverpool.
The 58-year-old, whose only Premier League title win came during the pandemic, returned to Anfield to watch Liverpool lift the trophy and had been in contact with Slot throughout the campaign.
Klopp explained: “The contact is very good – with some players who write from time to time or send one or two photos from their holidays. The owners are now good friends.
“And I also wrote to Arne from time to time, we saw each other first. He was happy about my gesture at the time (singing his name on the pitch after the final game).
“And to be honest, when it started so well under him, I asked myself as a person for a moment whether I thought it was good that this was the case.
“Yes, that’s really good. That makes me happy. I was recently back in Liverpool in my role as an ambassador for the LFC Foundation and it was nice to see everyone again.
“But I’m glad I don’t have to be there every day anymore. The time in Liverpool was wonderful, but it’s over.
“A colourful bouquet full of memories and 99 percent of them are beautiful.”