As the dust settles on Jurgen Klopp's shock announcement that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, questions continue to swirl in the minds of football fans, both of a Liverpool predisposition and otherwise.
Of course, the leading question is who will be his replacement at Anfield - but where Klopp will go next is also one which fans will be eager to know in the coming months.
In the statement announcing his departure, the 56-year-old said that he wanted to take a year off from coaching after a strenuous nine seasons with Liverpool.
Speaking this week, Eamon Dunphy and Didi Hamann disagreed on whether we could see Klopp return to management sooner than expected.
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Hamann thinks Jurgen Klopp would be tempted by Germany job
Jurgen Klopp is hoisted aloft by Liverpool players after their victory in the 2019 UEFA Champions League final (Photo: Shutterstock)
Appearing on Tuesday's episode of 'The Stand with Eamon Dunphy,' Didi Hamann discussed the future of both Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool ahead of their split this summer.
Dunphy suggested that Klopp could be tempted to take over as Bayern Munich's manager if the Bavarians fail to win the Bundesliga this season (an eventuality which looks increasingly likely with each passing week).
Hamann countered by saying that the national team job in Germany is perhaps the next job that Klopp would be interested in taking. Despite this, Hamann said he believed Klopp's desire for a year out was genuine, and that the German FA would be best placed to install a caretaker for a year if they were to get an indication of interest from the departing Liverpool manager:
I think everybody could feel that Klopp's words [of fatigue] were genuine, they came from the bottom of his heart. The relationship he has with the football club, I don't think it's a decision he would have made lightly.
It was very honest and, if he doesn't think he's the best man for the job, then he's got to step down.
I think the timing was good as well, it gives Liverpool four or five months to find a successor. He said he doesn't want to do anything for a year, for one season.
Obviously, the German national team job probably comes up after the EUROs. Nagelsmann is only there until the summer. I think, if you can have Klopp, you've got to put somebody in as an interim or a caretaker for a year, because you've still got the World Cup coming up in the USA and Mexico [in 2026].
I think you've got to wait a year, if he gives them a sign that he wants to do it.
It would be a bold strategy should a footballing force such as Germany choose to split the buildup to a World Cup in half, but the draw of appointing Jurgen Klopp as manager of Die Mannschaft would be undeniable.
Klopp has won everything there is to win at Liverpool and remains the most recent manager to win the Bundesliga with a club other than Bayern Munich.
By contrast, Germany have had a dire run at international tournaments since winning their fourth World Cup a decade ago. They exited the World Cup at the group stages in both the 2018 and 2022 editions, as well as exiting EURO 2020 at the last 16.
If Jurgen Klopp were to take over as manager ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America, there is every chance Germany's fortunes on the biggest stages may just take an upward turn.
The debate as to who will replace Klopp as Liverpool manager is one which did not take long to surface in the immediate aftermath of Friday's announcement.
Whoever takes over from the German coach will have a mammoth task on their hands, though it seems as though Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso is in pole position to make a return to Anfield. Hamann said that he believed Xabi Alonso was the man best equipped to take over from Klopp.
A handful of other contenders have emerged but the magnitude of the job at hand will no doubt have the Liverpool hierarchy taking their time with such a major decision.
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