Jurgen Klopp has spoken out about his future amid reports linking him to the Real Madrid job this summer.
The former Liverpool boss has been out of management since the end of the 2023/24 season, since taking up the role of head of global football with Red Bull.
Klopp has been heavily linked to multiple managerial roles since his Anfield exit, but after admitting he had 'run out of energy' in 2024, it's no surprise to still see him away from the touchline.
Recently, the German has been linked to the Bernabeu and when asked to clarify the rumours in an appearance on Magenta TV ahead of his pundit role for the World Cup, he instantly snapped back.
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"It's good that we're talking about this," he said via The Daily Mail.
"When is a story a story? When someone takes a sheet of paper and writes something on it? Or when there's actually something to it?
"What does the situation have to be? That Real Madrid called me at some point and said: 'Florentino Perez on the phone! Jurgen, how are things?' Or is it enough if OE24 (an Austrian media outlet) – no idea whether that's AI or written by people – writes some rubbish?"
The 58-year-old insisted he hadn't even received a phone call from Madrid, citing the reports as pure nonsense and even joking he was actually joining Los Blancos rivals Atletico Madrid.
"That annoys me," he added.
“If Real Madrid had phoned, we would have heard about it by now, but that’s all nonsense.
"They haven’t called even once, not once. My agent is there, you can ask him. They haven’t called him either.”
"I'll take over at Atletico Madrid as well, preferably at the same time. Sorry Madrid, you'll have to ring first," Klopp joked.
Klopp 'not finished' with management
As well as reports linking him with an immediate return to the touchline, Klopp has also been subject to retirement talk, which he also dismissed at the Magneta event despite insisting he is in no rush to return.
"I'm not thinking about that at all at the moment, who knows what the next few years will bring, but there are absolutely no plans in that regard," he said.
“For my age, I’m quite advanced in life, but as a coach I’m not completely finished.
“I haven’t reached retirement age. Who knows what will happen in the coming years? But there’s nothing planned.”
Topics: Jurgen Klopp, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Football
Tom Jenkins