Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is in demand and has made his feelings clear on returning to the dugout.
Klopp hasn’t managed since leaving Liverpool at the end of the 23/24 season, opting to stay at Anfield for one more season than he wanted in order to leave the club in the best place possible.
His decision ultimately paid off as Arne Slot guided Klopp’s men to a Premier League title in his first season after replacing the legendary German.
While Klopp hasn’t returned to management, he remains in the game after taking up a role with energy drink giant Red Bull as their Head of Global Soccer in 2025.
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However, that could be about to change if one club gets their wish with Portuguese side Benfica set to make an audacious move to land Klopp if a certain presidential candidate is appointed.
The 38x Portuguese title winners are currently in the midst of an election to appoint Rui Costa’s successor and one candidate, Cristovao Carvalho, pledges to get rid of current coach Bruno Lage and bring Klopp to the club.
He told SIC Noticias: “Bruno Lage won't stay beyond his contract.
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"I need a coach of the highest level, who has already won the Champions League and who wants to win a Champions League with Benfica.
"There's only one name that comes to mind: Jurgen Klopp. He even said that Benfica is a great club that he would like to coach one day. Someone who says this has something more than others to be at the club."
Jurgen Klopp’s stance on returning to management
Despite Klopp’s immense success in the game, it seems the former Borussia Dortmund’s management days are over and Benfica will be left disappointed.
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Since undertaking his role with Red Bull, the 58-year-old has constantly reaffirmed that he is much happier in his current role overseeing the company’s football operations across the globe and enjoying the things in life he missed out on due to his managerial commitments.
Klopp told German outlet Welt back in June: "Frustratingly, while I had many visitors in Liverpool, I hardly had time for them. In the last four months, I’ve been to two weddings – before that, none in 23 years.”
"But I don’t want that [management] anymore. I have a job now that fulfills me and is also intense. I don’t sleep in the morning and I don’t go to bed later at night, but I can organise my work much better. My wife, for example, is really happy with it because we can plan things much better that we couldn't before.”
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"Of course I enjoyed it too. Some days I couldn’t believe my luck. Just look where I came from – and then I made it to Liverpool FC, and it worked out pretty well there. If I were to go back to coaching somewhere, it would all start again. I’m me! I can’t just take over and coach. Then I’d be completely involved everywhere again. And I just don’t see that happening anymore.”
"He (Roy Hodgson) came up to me and asked how I was. In the same breath he said to me: ‘I miss it.’ And I was like: ‘What?’ Roy is 77 years old – and he wants to be a coach again. Unbelievable! When we played against Crystal Palace with Liverpool, I always asked him whether his apartment was damp or why he was standing on the pitch now.”
"But Jose Mourinho also said to me: ‘This is not the end.’ There are those coaches who always want to do that. I loved being a coach, but I was never addicted.”
It seems fans will have to get used to seeing Klopp in the stands and not on the touchline for the foreseeable future.
Topics: Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool, Benfica, Football, Premier League, Arne Slot
Marcus Banks