Jürgen Klopp stunned Liverpool fans last season when he abruptly announced that he would step down as manager at the end of the campaign.
Citing burnout and a lack of energy, Klopp explained that the relentless demands of 25 years in management—constant match preparation, unrelenting pressure, and the drive to sustain success had taken their toll.
He also suggested that he had no intention of taking another managerial role, expressing a desire to explore new challenges and learn beyond the daily rigours of managing a football club.
However, just a few months after leaving Liverpool, Klopp returned to the game—this time not in the dugout, but as Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull.
Now, only a short time into his new role, Klopp is being linked with Real Madrid in what is going to be a sensational return to management.
Jurgen Klopp tipped to become Real Madrid manager after Liverpool’s league win
Peter Crouch and co-hosts Chris Stark and Steve Sidwell on the latest The Peter Crouch Podcast believe he could now actually make a U-turn and return to management after Liverpool’s instant success under Arne Slot.
Discussing the links with Real Madrid, Stark said: “Maybe what he wanted to do was initially ease the pain and say: ‘Look, I’m not going anywhere, I’m not going do anything [take another managerial job] like that so don’t don’t worry about all that.’
“And then Liverpool have gone and done fantastic and maybe he’s not like upset. He’s there nodding his head [in approval] going: ‘they are okay now, they are fine. They don’t need me.’
“So you can move on [to another club] a bit quicker than expected”
Seeing Arne Slot win the Premier League must have hurt Jurgen Klopp
While Arne Slot has rightly earned plaudits for leading Liverpool to the Premier League title, it’s impossible to overlook Klopp’s foundational role in the triumph.
This was, in essence, Klopp’s team. The German meticulously built a world-class squad and handed it over to Slot, who made sure to thank him in his victory speech.
This is why, former Liverpool striker Crouch believes watching his old side lift the Premier League trophy at Anfield—without him—must have stung for Klopp. He said:
“It must hurt him a little bit I know that obviously publicly he won’t say that but it must it must seeing Arne Slot and the rest all line up in front of the Kop after winning the league and he must be like, ‘that’s my team’. I don’t care who you are, that hurts. You know like you feel ‘I should be there’.”
Klopp famously delivered Liverpool’s first league title in 30 years back in 2020, but could not celebrate it in front of the sold-out Anfield crowd due to the pandemic.
Klopp came close to winning another with Liverpool, falling short by just a single point in both 2019 and 2022.
