Jurgen Klopp has brought the good times back to Anfield. A Champions League trophy. A league title. Many, many joyful days. All football fans will know that good times - when they come - do not last forever. It seems Klopp is already plotting his life beyond Liverpool.
In December, the 53-year-old German had his contract with the club extended until the end of the 2023-2024 season. While speaking with German broadcaster SWR Sport yesterday, Klopp made it clear that he hopes to return to his home city of Mainz some day, and made it clear that, for the moment at least, his plan is to leave Liverpool after his current contract runs out.
When asked if he'll return to Germany, Klopp told SWR Sport: "Definitely to live, after my career. Most likely even to Mainz". On how long he'll remain at Anfield, he added: "Four years in Liverpool."
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Klopp was then asked what he might do with his energies after leaving Liverpool. He outlined three possibilities: doing nothing for a year (his ideal scenario), managing a club team or managing the German national team, a role he has regularly been linked with:
"They are to, ‘do nothing for a year,’ ‘maybe a club, a national team or nothing at all.’
But I have one problem. I can't do 'a little bit. I can only do all or nothing. When I decide that I cannot do it any longer then I will take a break for a year.
'After that year a decision must then be taken. But chances are very high that my energy level will then be there once more and that I can then do the job the way I want to.'
Klopp added that he ‘in five years the world can look very different again’.
In the interview, Klopp discussed that he is sharing an apartment with the Liverpool media manager Matt McCann while his wife Ulla is based back in Germany.
For Liverpool fans wondering just how long these Klopp-inspired glory days can go on for, it seems clear their manager is seeing 2024 as the end of the road. A lot can change between now and then, however.
German speakers can watch the entire interview below:
