At the end of this season Jurgen Klopp will step down from his role as the manager of Borussia Dortmund, which begins the speculation of where he ends up next season or maybe the one after that. From Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain to Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and even Tottenham in the Premier League, he’ll have plenty of options.
Bayern Munich seem to take anything that is remotely good from Borussia Dortmund, so why not Klopp? First of all they have Pep Guardiola, and Klopp doesn’t strike us as the kind of person to pull a Mario Gotze and go sign where he knows it’ll create the strongest negative reaction among his former fans. But Klopp did promise to stay with Mainz for 20 years, and he said the same thing about Dortmund. Never say never, and maybe Guardiola gets bored/exhausted at some point and the job opens up.
Barcelona have been mostly about promoting from within in recent years (Enrique did wander in Vigo and Rome but came from their coaching system), but Klopp is trendy, likes attacking football and is genuinely a cool dude. They haven’t had a German manager since Udo Lattek (1981-1983) so maybe, if Enrique fails to win anything of consequence this season, the road opens up for Klopp? Unlikely, but possible.
Real Madrid don’t give their managers a lot of breathing room as well. One mistake, one bad season, and you’re out. Is Klopp in the kind of prestigious, clean mold Real Madrid love their managers to be in? He has this renegade attitude and appearance to him, but Real Madrid also love players/managers who are the hottest name right now.
AC Milan or maybe even Inter are an interesting choice, but unless Milan are going to start spending money through the Chinese ownership group, it’s hard to see Klopp going to a league that’s somewhat limited financially and right now dominated by just one club, something he’s had enough of. But who knows, maybe he loves a challenge?
The Premier League, obviously, always offers the biggest appeal and Klopp, who speaks English well, has hinted once or twice that he’d love to manage there someday. Now that’s he’s not staying with Dortmund next season, maybe that day is closer than ever.
Manchester City seem like a team that’ll be looking for a new manager at the end of the season. Manuel Pellegrini did win the league title in 2014, but the collapse late in this season might be something too difficult for the impatient ownership to ignore.
Liverpool & Arsenal seem like the ideal settings. Not ‘plastic’ clubs as some love to call Manchester City or Chelsea, but it’s hard seeing Wenger going anywhere, and despite not repeating their success from last season, Brendan Rodgers isn’t going to be sacked this season.
Tottenham is the final option, and maybe the most fitting. A club with the potential to do a lot better than it has (only one appearance in the Champions League), with an owner that’s willing to spend but they’re not the richest club, so it means managing a limited set of funds and resources, something Klopp has done very well so far.